Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage (a) free and fair elections and (b) political activism in Bangladesh.

I have consistently made it clear that the UK wants to see a free, fair and pluralistic general election in Bangladesh, and we have consistently encouraged the Government of Bangladesh and opposition parties to engage in an effective dialogue to this end. I made these points to senior members of the Government of Bangladesh, including State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shahriar Alam, and members of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party during my visit to Bangladesh from 29 June - 1 July. The Foreign Secretary also made these points to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina when they met on 24 September at the UN General Assembly in New York.

The UK is active in supporting civil society and greater political participation in Bangladesh. We sponsor a range of project work through the £16.2 million DFID Strengthening Political Participation Phase Two programme. The programme includes work with the Bangladesh Youth Leadership Centre designed to empower Bangladeshi youth to take a more active role in politics, and a Capable Media for Strong Democracy project to build the capability of Bangladesh's media in achieving objective media reporting. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office also supports Article 19, an NGO supporting freedom of expression internationally, to monitor freedom of expression in Bangladesh.