Dhaka:Swedish Ambassador to Bangladesh Nicolas Weeks met with Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad Bir Bikram at the Speaker's office to discuss parliamentary cooperation, investment, and bilateral relations between the two nations.
According to United News of Bangladesh, the Speaker highlighted Sweden's role as a long-standing development partner of Bangladesh. He noted that both countries share similarities in their parliamentary democracies, which are unicameral and representative in nature. The Speaker suggested that forming a parliamentary friendship group could further promote democracy in both countries.
During the meeting, Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad emphasized Bangladesh's commitment to democracy, recalling the 17 years of autocratic rule during which voting rights were stripped from the people. He credited students and citizens with ending the autocratic regime through the mass uprising of 2024, underscoring the importance of voting rights in a parliamentary democracy.
Swedish Ambassador Nicolas Weeks provided details about Sweden's parliamentary system, explaining that it comprises 349 members elected by direct popular vote for four-year terms. Despite being a constitutional monarchy, Sweden's political and administrative powers are concentrated in its parliament and government.
Both parties agreed on the significance of forming parliamentary friendship groups and caucuses and discussed increasing investment, with a focus on sports and cultural cooperation. The Speaker also briefed the ambassador on the ongoing work of the Constitution Amendment Committee and invited Swedish companies to explore and extract oil and gas reserves in the Bay of Bengal.
The meeting was attended by officials from the Swedish Embassy and the Bangladesh Parliament Secretariat, including Secretary Barrister Md Golam Sorwar Bhuiyan.