Front-ranking leaders of the Awami League and BNP are set to meet again today as part of the negotiation process initiated by UN envoy Ocsar Fernandez-Taranco who apparently failed to achieve any progress in the previous two spells of talks.
Fernandez-Taranco’s move to bring the two arch rival to a negotiation table instilled hope into common people.
But Friday’s scheduled meeting at a house in Gulshan between the two parties, without presence of any high profile mediator, is unlikely to break the deadlock, say the leaders involved in the process.
“A great artist is known by what he omits. Perhaps a great diplomat is also distinguished by his skill at omitting things,” Mizanur Rahman Shelley, a political watcher, told the Dhaka Tribune.
Shelley also said Taranco, in his mission in Bangladesh, did not say what he really achieved.
“He rather said his success lay in getting the feuding Awami League and BNP to start some sorts of talks to end the political deadlock. Even after he (Taranco) left Dhaka, there was no sign of any light at the end of the tunnel. That is what is disappointing about the Taranco mission,” he observed.
“We hoped for a positive outcome. We cannot stand violence anymore. Every day people are being killed. But the leaders’ attitudes are simply frustrating,” Obinash Sarkar, a private service holder, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
However, diplomatic community in Dhaka is learnt to be “hoping against hope” to have a peaceful settlement soon.
Keeping the dialogue prospect alive, both the parties have already planned to stage muscle flexing on the streets vowing not to leave the street unchallenged.
The BNP has already threatened to resist ‘one-sided elections’ while the ruling Awami League said election would be held “within the schedule no matter who is taking part or not.”
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has already asked her party’s senior leaders to be present in the December 15 meeting at Suhrawrdy Udyan from where she is expected to announce the next course of action.
On the other hand, on December 4, Awami League President Sheikh Hasina at the Central Working Committee meeting at Ganabhaban asked the party leaders and activists to “launch counter strike” on the BNP-Jamaat men if they tried to attack people and Awami Leaguers to foil the polls.
On December 11, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at an informal discussion at Ganabhaban said her party agreed to continue dialogue to end the political crisis but BNP had to withdraw its “destructive” political programmes before the next round of talks begins.
However, AL Joint General Secretary Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif said election would be held on January 5. “It does not matter who will participate in the election and who will not.”
Mahbubur Rahman, a standing committee member of the BNP, said: “The dialogue is going to be meaningless as the electoral process is still going on.”
