Faisal Ahmed Sweet, Reporter || German Ambassador to Bangladesh Dr Rüdiger Lotz paid a courtesy call on Bangladesh Parliament Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed Bir Bikram MP at the speaker’s office on Wednesday (September 16).During the meeting, the speaker said Bangladesh and Germany have maintained longstanding friendly relations. He said the presence of a German observer delegation during the latest national parliamentary election helped further strengthen the existing ties between the two countries.The speaker also described Bangladesh and Germany as “brotherly countries” in the field of democracy.Hafiz Uddin Ahmed said Bangladesh had faced exploitation for a long period, while democratic discrimination became pronounced during the Pakistan period. Although the country achieved independence through the Liberation War in 1971, he said its democratic transition had repeatedly been undermined.He further said people in Bangladesh had become frustrated during the “15-year misrule” of the Awami League. According to him, a mass uprising took place against enforced disappearances, killings, extrajudicial killings and “farce elections”. In that context, he said democracy had been restored through an acceptable and neutral election.The speaker said the people of Bangladesh had repeatedly sacrificed themselves for democracy and had remained committed to the long struggle to establish the rule of law.Ambassador Rüdiger Lotz, meanwhile, said Bangladesh had moved away from 15 years of “authoritarian rule” and paved the way from dictatorship towards democracy. He said the current elected government faces many challenges.The German ambassador pledged the highest level of support from the German government to make democracy effective in Bangladesh.During the meeting, the delegation also stressed the formation of a Bangladesh-Germany parliamentary committee and expansion of parliamentary diplomacy through a friendship group. They also discussed increasing economic investment, including exploration for oil and gas wells and establishing fertiliser factories in Bangladesh’s coastal areas.The speaker invited German experts to explore oil and gas resources in Bangladesh’s maritime territory and coastal areas. He told the ambassador that the country’s future economy would depend on energy. Representatives of the German Embassy and relevant officials of the Bangladesh Parliament Secretariat were present at the meeting.