Hold dialogue without any conditions

US Assistant Secretary Donald Lu has written to the Awami League, BNP, and Jatiya Party, urging them to engage in talks without any conditions to unlock the political stalemate.

Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader disclosed this after a meeting yesterday with US Ambassador Peter Haas at the JP chairman's office in Banani where the diplomat handed over the letter of the US assistant secretary at the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs.

"The US wants a free, fair, and neutral election in Bangladesh in a congenial atmosphere. As a friendly country, they want to see this in Bangladesh," GM Quader told The Daily Star, quoting Haas.

Although the letter was not made public, Quader said Lu in the letter mentioned two things: free and fair polls in Bangladesh and unconditional dialogue among the political parties.

A JP leader who was present at the meeting read out key points of the letter. "The United States values its partnership with Bangladesh and urged all parties to put democratic principles into practice to deliver free, fair, and peaceful elections to the people of Bangladesh," he said.

Meanwhile, AL Office Secretary Biplab Barua told The Daily Star at 10:30pm that they were yet to receive any letter from Lu.

Contacted, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said the party received the letter. He, however, made no further comments.

The US move comes with days to go until the election schedule is announced.

Meanwhile,  in a statement yesterday, US embassy spokesperson Stephen Ibelli said Haas has requested meetings with senior officials of the three major political parties to underscore the US position regarding the upcoming elections.

Calling for free and fair elections conducted in a peaceful manner and urging all sides to eschew violence and exercise restraint, the statement said the US does not favour any political party over the other.

It urged all sides to engage in dialogue without preconditions.

The statement said the US would continue to implement its "3C policy" in an even-handed manner against those who undermine the democratic election process.

The "3C policy" is the new visa policy under which the US restricts the issuance of visas for any Bangladeshi believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh.

The US nudge for talks comes when the AL is adamant about having the elections with this government in power and the BNP and some of its like-minded parties are on the streets enforcing blockades demanding the resignation of the government and polls under a neutral caretaker government.

Many of the BNP's leaders are either on the run or in jail since October 28, when its rally in Nayapaltan was foiled.

The Election Commission said it would announce the election schedule soon and that the polls would be held before January 29 at any cost.

When asked what the letter meant, former foreign secretary M Touhid Hossain said the US position did not change. It rather reiterated its position and expectations.

Humayun Kabir, former Bangladesh ambassador to the US, echoed Touhid. 

"They have been talking [about] this for quite a long time now but sending letter to the political parties is a formal approach. They expect that all the parties will respect it."

Prof Shantanu Majumder of Political Science at Dhaka University welcomed the US call for unconditional dialogue among political parties.

This is the only way out of the deadlock that has been created over the polls-time administration, he said. "The alternative to dialogue is conflict. None of us wants conflict," he told The Daily Star yesterday.

The blockade and related violence has already caused a sense of fear among people, and dialogue among the political parties without any conditions and with open minds can definitely pave the way for a good election, he said, adding that dialogue with conditions was meaningless.

"I am not sure how much the US call will be heeded by the political parties, but the call is positive," he said.

On October 31, Haas met Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal and later told journalists that he hoped all parties would engage in an unconditional dialogue and facilitate free and peaceful elections in Bangladesh.

On May 24, the US imposed the visa restrictions. Eighteen months before this, Washington slapped sanctions on Rab and seven of its current and former officials for human rights violations.

The US has been critical of the last two national elections. In 2021, it did not invite Bangladesh to the democracy summit to promote the Biden administration's foreign policy priorities, democracy, and human rights.

JP ON POLLS

Asked whether the Jatiya Party told Haas anything about the polls, JP Secretary General Mujibul Haque Chunnu, who was at the meeting, said, "It's our internal affairs. It is the responsibility of the Election Commission to hold the election in a free and fair manner. And the government will assist the EC in this regard."

When he was queried if JP would run, Chunnu said they were prepared for the polls. "We are still waiting to see whether the government creates a congenial atmosphere so that voters can cast their votes at their will and without any obstacles," Chunnu said.