The United Nations stands for a free, fair, inclusive and non-violent
election which the people in Bangladesh want and deserve and the
credibility of the election will ultimately rest with the people, the UN
assistant secretary general, Oscar Fernández-Taranco, said on
Wednesday.
Fernández-Taranco specified three measures that could contribute
immensely to breaking the impasse and create 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. He said that Bangladeshis had experiences of credible
elections.
Wrapping up his five-day tour of Dhaka, Fernández-Taranco at a crowded
news conference at the Sonargaon Hotel said that the prime goal of his
tour was to bring the two parties across the table and it had been
accomplished. ‘We have started it. It is the beginning. A solution is
still possible but that must come from the two parties.’
‘I firmly believe there is ground for an agreement. Bangladeshi leaders
must continue to come together. I encouraged both sides to continue
their dialogue in the spirit of good will and compromise. Bangladeshis
expect them to work together constructively to decrease tensions and to
find mutually agreeable solutions for free, fair, inclusive and
non-violent elections,’ he said.
He said that he firmly believed that there was ground for an agreement
among political leaders and he encouraged both the sides to continue
with their dialogue in the spirit of goodwill and compromise.
He also observed that the level of goodwill among the leaders was ‘so
far so good’ and he was ‘very happy’ about his Dhaka mission outcomes as
two parties had engaged in a dialogue and both the parties agreed to
hold a third round of dialogue. Top leaders of the Awami League and the
Bangladesh Nationalist Party already met twice in the past past couple
of days.
Fernández-Taranco declined to go into ‘specifics’ about the outcome of
the dialogue and whether the elections scheduled for January 5 that the
BNP said would boycott would be deferred. The parties have raised many
issues and all the relevant issues are related to the current situation
in a substantive and constructive manner, he said.
Asked about the consequences if the dialogue fails, Fernández-Taranco
said, ‘Everybody in this room knows what will happen if the dialogue
fails. I would not answer that question. This is a leadership issue.
This is a decision that takes courage.’
He said that the current political crisis was exacting a heavy, human,
social and economic toll on Bangladesh and it resulted in increasing
tension and seriously threatened the hard-earned economic and social
progress that Bangladesh has achieved.
In reply to a question on possibilities of elections under the UN
management, Fernández-Taranco said that such things required mandate
from the UN General Assembly or the Security Council and Bangladesh was
not a case like that.
He did not find anything wrong with the cancellation of his appointment
with the prime minister on the day. ‘Today it was a very, very hectic
day. As you know many things are happening. It is a matter of
scheduling.’
Amid escalating political tension, Fernández-Taranco arrived in Dhaka on
Friday evening on an assignment from the UN secretary general Ban
Ki-moon and would leave for New York around 9:00pm Wednesday to report
back to him on the outcome of the visit. (source)