The speaker said students and people from all walks of life brought an end to the autocratic regime through the mass uprising of 2024.
UNB
25 October, 2026, 09:10 pm
Last modified: 25 October, 2026, 09:19 pm
Swedish Ambassador to Bangladesh Nicolas Weeks paid a courtesy call on Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad Bir Bikram at the Speaker's office today (25 October), discussing parliamentary cooperation, investment and other areas of bilateral relations.
During the meeting, the speaker said Sweden had long been a development partner of Bangladesh. He noted that Sweden's parliamentary system is a unicameral, representative democracy and said the two countries share similarities in several aspects of parliamentary democracy.
Hafiz Uddin Ahmad said the formation of a parliamentary friendship group between Bangladesh and Sweden could play an important role in promoting parliamentary democracy in both countries.
He said the people of Bangladesh had always been committed to democracy and had never hesitated to sacrifice their lives for it. Their voting rights were taken away during 17 years of autocratic rule, he added.
The speaker said students and people from all walks of life brought an end to the autocratic regime through the mass uprising of 2024.
He said people in Bangladesh vote for their preferred political parties and candidates, adding that voters play an important role in parliamentary democracy by exercising their democratic right to vote.
Swedish Ambassador Nicolas Weeks said Sweden's parliament has 349 seats, with members elected by direct popular vote for four-year terms.
He said Sweden is formally a constitutional monarchy, but all political and administrative powers of the state are vested in parliament and the government.
Both sides stressed the importance of forming parliamentary friendship groups and caucuses. They also discussed ways to increase investment between the two countries, including cooperation in sports and culture.
During the meeting, the speaker briefed the ambassador on the activities of the ongoing Constitution Amendment Committee.
He also invited Swedish companies to participate in the exploration and extraction of oil and gas reserves off Bangladesh's coast in the Bay of Bengal.
Officials of the Swedish Embassy and relevant officials of the Bangladesh Parliament Secretariat, including its Secretary Barrister Md Golam Sorwar Bhuiyan, were present at the meeting.