The troubled political situation in the country has come back to square one, following a couple of days of hopes raised by the UN chief’s call for a resolution to the two top political leaders.
The BNP yesterday officially welcomed the UN chief’s call for political dialogue, because it resonates with the party’s standing demand.
The ruling Awami League on the other hand told a visiting European Parliament delegation exactly what it has been saying since violence began more than a month ago – no talks could take place until the BNP-led alliance stopped killing people in the name of movement.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has recently sent separate letters to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, urging them to take steps to bring back peace.
The UN chief also informed the two ladies that he had assigned his assistant Oscar Fernandez-Taranco to mediate. Fernandez-Taranco had tried to do the same thing before the 2014 national elections as well, but failed to produce any fruitful result, despite managing to bring the two parties to the table.
Diplomatic efforts gained momentum since the beginning of this month following the death of over 70 people in countrywide violence during the ongoing non-stop blockade and intermittent hartals enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance.
Alongside western diplomats in Dhaka, international rights bodies, civil society members, and other political parties have also been trying to bring the two camps to dialogue, but without any success.
They said while dialogue seems to be the only solution in sight, the iolence must also be halted.
In a press release yesterday, BNP Joint Secretary General Salahuddin Ahmed said: “We welcome the initiatives from the United Nations and the other forces about encouraging meaningful talks for holding elections under a non-partisan government.”
However, whether the UN chief had said anything in his letters about “holding elections under non-partisan governments” could not be confirmed.
Salahuddin warned in the press release that the ongoing blockade will continue and tougher programmes such as hartals will be enforced in the coming days if their demands are not met.
According to an insider, the BNP has always wanted strengthened diplomatic efforts as can be seen right now as a means of mounting pressure on the government.
However, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam said on Wednesday the government was not feeling any pressure from the international community.
Yesterday, the ruling Awami League told a human rights body of the European Parliament that terrorism and dialogue cannot go simultaneously.
The meeting was held at Awami League chief and PM Sheikh Hasina’s Dhanmondi political office yesterday. PM’s advisers Gowher Rizvi, HT Imam, and Moshiur Rahman, Awami League General Secretary and LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam, and Joint General Secretary Dipu Moni, among others, attended the meeting.
Explaining the government’s stance, Gowher Rizvi told the Europeans that talks could be held only about how to strengthen the Election Commission so it can arrange fair elections.
“But it [dialogue] must be done within the democratic framework and as per the constitution,” he said.
The European Parliament delegation was led by Cristian Dan Preda, vice-chairperson of the sub-committee on human rights. She however did not make any comment about the meeting with the Awami league.