Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has offered support to the Government of Bangladesh to support a free and fair election in that country.

The UK is committed to supporting Bangladesh to conduct free, fair and inclusive national elections in January 2024. We regularly raise with the Government of Bangladesh, in public and private, the need to take meaningful steps to ensure a transparent and accountable electoral process. We welcome Prime Minister Hasina's recent statement welcoming international election observers. The UK also regularly urges the Government to ensure that conduct by law enforcement and political activists are disciplined, allowing all parties to organise and campaign safely. Through our development programming, the UK supports civil society actors to help protect and expand civic and political space, for a more peaceful and inclusive politics in Bangladesh.