Poor show in OIC

The crux of the problem lies in the selection of the candidate. I am sure we have lots of qualified persons with vast experience both in domestic and international arena. It seems sycophancy is the only criterion that was taken into account -- Otherwise a person with such little experience in diplomacy and a questionable past could never overshadow an eligible candidate. The much-talked about image of Bangladesh got another blow through the selection of a controversial candidate. How could Bangladesh even think of winning such an important post with such a candidate? What about the huge amount of money spent on it?

The deserving candidate has been elected in the OIC voting. Ihsanoglu, a 61-year-old Turkish historian, has served as director general of the Istanbul-based Organisation of the Islamic Conference Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture.

It is a matter of grave concern that our "disappointed, but not broken-hearted" candidate is making rash comments about his defeat and other issues to different news agencies, which will be on the record. Did not the foreign ministry brief him about the diplomatic norms?

The present government has failed terribly in handling foreign affairs in general. Bangladesh is on the terrorist list and now in the blacklist for the trafficking of women and children not to mention our label as the world's most corrupt country.

There must be some competent people in the ruling party to take good care of foreign affairs. Foreign affairs will always be a delicate issue. Here the government cannot get away with cursing the opposition party. I hope the think tank (if there is any such thing) in the ruling party will take pragmatic steps to control the damage already done to the image of Bangladesh.