In a bid to resolve the current political impasse, visiting United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco continued his hectic parley with top leaders and civil society members of the country on the Monday, the third day of his visit. Amid this frantic move, he talked to the press for the first time, though for a brief period after his second meeting with the Chief Election Commissioner, and said it is still possible to find a peaceful solution to the ongoing political impasse.
He, however, said that to achieve that political will, attitude of compromise and ability to engage in peaceful dialogue from all sides were needed.
During this parley, he met the Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia for the second time in the evening, and after the meeting BNP vice-president Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury told journalists that discussions were still continuing to resolve the crisis.
“I have been talking to different interlocutors here in Bangladesh,” the UN official told reporters after about a 30-minute meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad at his office earlier in the day.
Taranco, however, refused to take any questions from reporters outside the Election Commission. “I know that you would like to hear more right now, but I still have many more meetings to go through. I want to reassure you that we will have the opportunity to brief the media before I leave. This is as much as I would like to say right now,” he said.
The CEC declined to disclose the outcome of the meeting.
Earlier in the day, Taranco had met Russian ambassador Alexander A Nikolaev at his residence over lunch.
The UN emissary also held a meeting with senior Awami League leaders at the Gulshan residence of Dr Gowher Rizvi. Apart from Dr Rizvi, AL general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam, Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed, Faruk Khan and Mahbubul Haque Hanif attended the meeting. The AL leaders, however, refused to speak to the media on the meeting.
In the morning, a Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami delegation, led by its assistant secretary general Abdur Razzaq, had met the UN envoy at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel.
“We held a discussion on how the next election can be held in a free, fair and impartial manner that is acceptable to all and how a level-playing field can be created in the country,” Razzak told reporters after the meeting.
On the issue of violence, Razzak said, “He (Taranco) said violence was not acceptable. We also said violence was unwarranted. The election can take a festive look if all parties take part in the polls.” The Jamaat leader claimed that there was no specific mention on the violence orchestrated by Jamaat-Shibir. “It was a general discussion on violence. Taranco said all parties must sit together to create a conducive atmosphere and find a way to contain violence,” he added. Asked if the Jamaat had put forward any recommendation, Razzak said, “If a level-playing field is not restored, then we think that the crisis cannot be overcome.”
The Jamaat leader said they had also discussed his outfit’s ineligibility to participate in the election following cancellation of its registration. “This problem can be solved,” he said. Razzak said they had expressed the Jamaat’s concern over the death penalty to war crime-convicted Abdul Quader Mollah. He claimed that the UN emissary also expressed concern over the conduct of the war crimes trials.
-With The Independent input
