By IANS
Dhaka : Bangladesh’s caretaker government is considering appointing consultants to make governance “more dynamic”, the country’s army chief, Gen Moin U Ahmed, said in London Tuesday.
He did not elaborate but only said that the provisions of the country’s constitution were being examined in this regard, United News of Bangladesh (UNB) news agency reported.
Ahmed, who is in London as part of a three-nation tour that will also take him to the US and Canada, dismissed speculation about his becoming president and said he had no “no such intentions”.
“Many questions are lurking in many people’s minds, but time will give answers to all those questions… I have no desire to become president,” the Daily Star quoted him as telling reporters in London.
Ahmed heads the military brass that is fully backing the current caretaker government that took office amidst political turmoil in January, called off the general elections and imposed a state of national emergency.
The government is consistently referred to as being “army backed” in the media at home and in Western capitals. But Ahmed rejects the view that the army has a special role in the country’s governance.
“The army is part of government. Like general people, the army also wants clean democracy in Bangladesh,” the general said.
Outspoken in his criticism of the country’s political leadership, Ahmed responded to a media query by throwing “a challenge”, the newspaper said.
Ostensibly referring to the two jailed former prime ministers, Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, and several former lawmakers, he asked: “Can anyone find any honest person among those arrested and jailed?”
Ahmed is scheduled to meet several high-level officials of the UN, including the current president of the UN General Assembly Srgjan Kerim and officials of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, according to news reports from the US.
Bangladesh has a large presence in UN peacekeeping operations across the world.
He will also meet US Congressman and Co-chair of US-Bangladesh Caucus, Joseph Crowley.