A fresh diplomatic move has started to resolve the country’s ongoing political impasse in the last couple of days. And apparently as part of the effort, US Ambassador Dan W Mozena and British High Commissioner Robert Gibson met with the Leader of the Opposition, Khaleda Zia, at her Ghulshan residence in the last two days. The diplomats also met some ruling party high-ups, including Awami League general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam, in a bid to find a solution to the crisis. Diplomats of European countries in Dhaka also held a meeting to discuss the situation on Monday.
It is learnt that Mozena and Gibson have requested the Opposition to refrain from violent political programme and at the same time assured Khaleda. Simultaneously, they have expressed concern over the government restriction on the movement of the Leader of the Opposition and stressed the need for holding a credible and participatory election, sources said.
After his meeting with Khaleda on Tuesday, the US Ambassador in Dhaka, Dan Mozena, urged the Awami League-led government to provide political space to the Opposition so that it can express its political views freely.
In a written statement after meeting the Opposition chief, he said the main Opposition should be engaged in peaceful programmes instead of being violent.
The US Ambassador also called upon the two major political parties — the Awami Leauge (AL) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) — to sit for a dialogue to find an acceptable way of holding a free, fair and credible election acceptable to the people of Bangladesh.
“I iterated our call that all political parties of Bangladesh should give up violence and sit across the table as violence is not consistent with the democratic process; it is unacceptable and should stop immediately,” the statement said.
Referring to the arrest of top Opposition leaders, Mozena said: “The US government expresses its concern over the recent wave of arrest of senior political leaders. Such type of arrest creates panic among those who want to express their democratic rights independently and whose participation is very crucial for the success of the future dialogue between two sides.”
He also expressed concern over Sunday’s incident at the Supreme Court, the Press Club and Dhaka University centering around the BNP-led Opposition’s “March for Democracy”.
At the same time, he said Sunday’s incidents were very disturbing as they are contrary to the democratic process and must not be allowed to recur.
On Tuesday, at about 2.50 pm, British High commissioner Robert Gibson met with the Awami League general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam at his residence at Mintu Road in the city. However, neither Gibson nor Ashraf made any comment before the waiting reporters in front of Ashraf’s residence about the outcome of their meeting.
-With The Independent input
