The government on Thursday bitterly criticised the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) for its report on the 12th parliamentary elections.
Terming the report of TIB, one-sided, anti-government and unrealistic, Awami League (AL) general secretary Obaidul Quader said the body advocate for a quarter.
“They (TIB) speak the way the BNP speaks. They are the agents of BNP,” he told a press conference at the AL president Sheikh Hasina's political office at Dhanmondi.
Quader, who is also the Road Transport and Bridges Minister, said reality could not be found in the
research that TIB conducts.
“History says they were always against the Awami League. We did not find the any sign of neutrality in their research work,” he said.
A Berlin-based anti-graft organisation, TIB on Wednesday had released its study titled ‘The 12th Parliament Election Process Tracking’ and mentioned that the 12th general election in Bangladesh was a one-sided one and was staged to be competitive.
It said that the poll was not free, fair, and participatory and was a ‘bad indication’ for the country’s democracy and the future of elections.
Echoing with the AL general secretary, foreign minister Hasan Mahud said the report was made public to give a tool of weapon to a quarter.
“Many are saying that the report has been made public to handover a weapon to those political parties, including the BNP, which have boycotted the polls and tried to foil the polls and have been trying to make the election questionable,” he said.
“The TIB has placed the report to undermine a free, fair and credible election,” he added.
State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad A Arafat claimed that the TIB report was not constituted on the international standard.
“Those who carried out the research work have no experience about the poll or political science. The so-called research has crossed the limitation of scientific method,” he said.
Sharply criticising the TIB, the junior minister said they (TIB) tried to mislead the people through untrue information.
