Dialogue shouldn’t be dependent on any one leader or party: Bernicat
Dhaka: Outgoing US Ambassador to Bangladesh Marcia Bernicat on Tuesday said the dialogue among political parties should not depend on any one leader or any particular party.
‘The dialogue shouldn’t be dependent on any one leader or any party,’ she said when a questioner asked about the political dialogue when BNP chief Khaleda Zia serving her time in jail, reports the UNB.
The US diplomat said dialogue is not just even the meeting at the high level, but it is how party members relate with each other and work together across the country for the benefit of people.
Bernicat termed the dialogue scheduled to be held on Thursday evening between the ruling Awami League and Dr Kamal Hossain-led Jatiya Oikya Front as a ‘positive development’ and an ‘extraordinary achievement’.
She also ruled out that the Ambassadors broker political deals terming it termed it a ‘rotten idea’. ‘I think by and large we want to be a part of the dialogue to the extent that it helps strengthen the whole process, not strengthen one party and another.’
Bernicat said a democracy is as strong as its institutions - the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. ‘Political parties, civil society and media - we all share knowledge and benefits with one another.’