Path to dialogue still clouded by conditions

Although there is a possibility of dialogue among the country’s political parties to end the current deadlock, it is still stuck in conditions with ruling Awami League and opposition BNP hell-bent on their respective stances on the mode of holding the next general election.

While Awami League said the election must be held under the present government as per the current provision of the constitution, BNP said a neutral caretaker government must be installed to oversee the polls.

Meanwhile, BNP said their demands are for ensuring a free, fair and credible election and they have no problem in sitting in unconditional dialogue. On the other hand, Awami League said there is no scope of any dialogue at present.

Different quarters, including some political parties, businessmen and political analysts, and the influential foreign countries, particularly the United States, have been emphasising holding dialogue among the political parties to resolve the stalemate over holding the polls.

The issue of dialogue has come to the fore again following letters from US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Donald Lu, to three major political parties – AL, BNP and Jatiya Party – urging them to engage in unconditional dialogue for holding the polls in a free, fair and peaceful manner.

In the latest development, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas met Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader at the Secretariat on Wednesday and handed over the letter written by Donald Lu.

While talking to reporters emerging from the meeting, Peter Haas called upon all sides to de-escalate and eschew violence, and try to figure out a way to have dialogue without pre-conditions to improve the election atmosphere.

But the dialogue between AL and BNP is hamstrung by conditions as the two major political parties are still rigid on their respective stances on the polls.

Meanwhile, while talking to media on Wednesday after the meeting with the US envoy, AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader said there is no scope of any dialogue with BNP and their like-minded parties at present. “Engaging in a dialogue with BNP is not possible at this moment. The nation will swiftly move towards election after the announcement of the election schedule.”

“We urged them (BNP and others) earlier to sit in unconditional dialogue. Then they didn’t respond to the call. Now the time is over, there’s no chance for dialogue,” he said.

“If a dialogue is to hold, it should involve all political parties. Holding discussion with one or two parties will likely not yield any result,” Quader said.

He, however, said the final decision will be taken after discussion with their party President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Echoing their party’s general secretary, AL Organising Secretary Shafiul Alam Chowdhury Nadel said the train of dialogue has left long ago. “Now, there’re no atmosphere and opportunity for dialogue.”

“Any type of discussion can be based on agenda. But no discussion will be fruitful with preconditions. So, the fruitless dialogue is nothing but the waste of time,” he added.

Meanwhile, Workers Party of Bangladesh, an ally of the AL-led 14-party alliance, on Wednesday condemned the letter of Donald Lu, saying it is not only unacceptable but also out of diplomatic and political etiquette.

BNP Standing Committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan lamented that they want to sit in dialogue but the government is going ahead with the plan to hold the parliamentary elections unilaterally as the Election Commission has already announced the polls schedule.

“Dialogue is a democratic process. We want to participate in the dialogue but Awami League is going ahead unilaterally for holding the election. We haven’t tagged any condition for holding the dialogue."

The BNP leader said they are demanding resignation of the incumbent government, dissolution of parliament, reconstitution of the Election Commission (EC), installation of a non-party election-time government and release of the party’s arrested leaders and activists for the sake of fair polls.

“But these are not conditions for dialogue. There’re criteria for holding a free, fair and neutral election. We’ve been pressing for these demands for long,” he added.

Asked whether there are any possibility of dialogue and initiative behind the scenes to this end, Moyeen Khan said, “I don’t see any behind-the-scene initiative for the dialogue but the EC has unilaterally announced the election schedule (without political consensus over the polls).”

BNP insiders said as the party is under pressure from different quarters, it agreed to sit in the dialogue but finally they are firm on their stance on the holding of the next election under a non-party government.

After receiving the letter written by Donald Lu from Peter Haas in a meeting, Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader went to Bangabhaban on Tuesday night to meet President Mohammed Shahabuddin.

During the meeting, he discussed the letter of Donald Lu and the possible dialogue, he said on Wednesday. “During our discussion, the issue of letter of Donald Lu also came up,” he told reporters.

The Jatiya Party chief further said if they are invited to dialogue, they have a proposal about the election-time administration to place in the talks.

Talking to reporters, Jatiya Party Secretary General Mujibul Haque Chunnu said though the EC announced the election schedule, they can change it if the government takes initiative for talks to create a congenial atmosphere for the election.

“The two major parties (AL and BNP) should retreat from their rigid one-point stance and sit in dialogue after taking initiative,” he added.

Political experts think dialogue must be held between the political parties to resolve the longstanding political stalemate.

Prof Shantanu Majumder of the Department of Political Science at Dhaka University said, “There’s no alternative to dialogue to resolve crises in a democratic system. But both parties have to proceed with the mentality to make sacrifice. They have to hold the dialogue with an open mind and without any condition.”