Ruling and opposition political camps in the two rounds of sitting the
visiting UN assistant secretary general Oscar Fernández-Taranco brokered
remained stubborn on respective conditions for the beginning of a
dialogue to break the current political impasse.
The UN move followed escalating violence because of the rigid stance of
both the ruling and the opposition camp over the next parliamentary
elections but after the two sittings, the parties started speaking the
language they did before the mediation move.
Both Awami League and BNP leaders hurriedly left the meeting venue
avoiding the media after their second sitting on Wednesday. The BNP at a
news conference in the afternoon once again called on people to wage a
movement for a non-partisan government for the holding of the elections.
The Awami League delegation at the sittings asked BNP leaders to call
off all their agitation programmes before beginning the dialogue and the
BNP delegation said they could not begin discussions keeping their
leaders with its leaders being in jail, senior leaders of both the
parties said.
The Awami League said that a meaningful atmosphere to begin the dialogue
could be created only after programmes such as general strikes and
blockades in which public property is damaged, people are killed and
arson attacks and bombings are taking place, the safety and security of
lives and property are threatened are called off. Discussions will not
be meaningful if such ‘anarchy’ was not stopped, the Awami League said.
BNP leaders were also pushing for the release of their leaders and
activists arrested earlier and demanded a non-partisan, election-time
government to hold the next general elections.
The Awami League delegation again said that the detained BNP leaders
leaders would be released and the discussion on an election-time
government could be held only if the BNP ensured that it would stop its
‘subversive activities in the name of enforcing general strikes and
blockades.’
Leaders of both the parties remained silent about the outcome of the
second-round meeting held in the office of a UNDP-funded project of the
local government and rural development ministry at Gulshan in Dhaka on
Wednesday.
Fernández-Taranco after the meeting specified three measures that could
contribute immensely to breaking the impasse and creating a congenial
atmosphere — a call by all sides to end violence, the release of
opposition political leaders, and a mutually satisfactory solution to
concerns regarding the elections schedule.
Fernández-Taranco said that the situation was still critical in reducing
tension and political leaders should continue to engage in a
constructive dialogue to create a congenial atmosphere for credible
elections.
BNP leaders at the news conference in the afternoon asked the chief
election commissioner to suspend the polls schedule and said that he
might need to stand in the dock, otherwise, one day.
They also claimed that the party’s chairperson Khaleda Zia had always
wanted a resolution to problems through dialogues and understanding but
the ruling quarters were out to hold a one-sided election keeping the
opposition outside the process as the ruling party would lose.
‘The ongoing programmes began before Fernández-Taranco’s arrival... And
it will go on until a consensus is reached,’ BNP standing committee
member Nazrul Islam Khan said at the news conference.
‘We sat for the dialogue hoping for a satisfactory resolution and to
find a way to the resolution. So far it [resolution] has not come. We
should continue with street agitation... and you know, there is no such
development regarding the consensus,’ he added.
Fernández-Taranco arrived in Dhaka on Friday evening and met the prime
minister, the leader of the opposition in the parliament, the chief
election commissioner and other political leaders. He could convince
leaders of the Awami League and the BNP to sit across the table on
Monday night.
The first round of meeting was held at the house Neal Walker, the UN resident coordinator in Dhaka, on Tuesday.
Syed Ashraful Islam, Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed and Gowher Rizvi
were on the Awami League side and Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Khandakar
Mosharraf Hossain, Abdul Moin Khan and Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury were on
the BNP side.
After the meeting, Fernández-Taranco said that the ruling and the
opposition party had agreed to continue with the dialogues in the spirit
of goodwill and compromise and work together constructively to ease
tension and build confidence.
After a long two-hour sitting for the second time, Fernández-Taranco on
Wednesday called on the leaders to continue with the move for the
dialogue and he viewed bringing the two parties across the table as the
success of his mission.
Fernández-Taranco also met a delegation of senior citizens led by jurist
Kamal Hossain where they told him that ‘the train of a one-sided
election should be stopped for a while’ and an inclusive election should
be held.
On reaching Dhaka, Fernández-Taranco met the prime minister and wanted
know whether it was possible to defer the election schedule and the
prime minister said that it was up to the Election Commission to decide.
The next day he met the chief election commissioner, Kazi Rakibuddin
Ahmad, and he told Fernández-Taranco that the election schedule could be
deferred within the legal and constitutional framework if the UN could
broker an agreement between the ruling and the opposition camp. (source)