The US pre-election assessment mission yesterday recommended dialogue between political parties in order to hold a credible, inclusive and peaceful election in Bangladesh.

The mission also suggested reining in political rhetoric, protecting freedom of expression, ensuring space for civil society, committing to shun violence, and creating conditions for all parties to compete in a meaningful way.

"The parties should engage in good-faith negotiations to find a compromise to the current political stalemate and create real, lasting, and credible change," said the mission in a 10-page report yesterday.

Between October 8 and 11, the mission of the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute met officials of the government, the Election Commission, leaders of political parties, representatives of civil society, women, youths, people with disabilities, journalists, lawyers and the diplomatic communities in Dhaka.

"We feel the primary problem is the lack of a constructive engagement among key political actors," the report quoted Karl Inderfurth, co-chair of the National Democratic Institute, as saying.

About the mission's recommendations, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader said dialogue may be considered if the BNP withdraws its conditions.

BNP's conditions are resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, dissolution of parliament, resignation of the Election Commission, and polls under a non-party caretaker government.

"We have no thoughts on a conditional dialogue," said Quader at a press briefing.

Dialogue possible if BNP withdraws conditions.

— Quader

'Unelected govt' cannot set terms for talks

— Khasru

BNP standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury told The Daily Star: "We have been calling for a meaningful dialogue, and the mission urged exactly that."

On Quader's remarks on dialogue, Khasru said, "Who is he to set the term? The terms will be set by the people of Bangladesh. An unelected government cannot set terms for holding talks."

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said he welcomes the suggestions made by the US mission, but there is nothing to make a fuss over it. "Many give different opinions. It is up to us to accept them or not. I don't think the suggestions they made are very important," he told reporters at the foreign ministry.

Momen said the government has been holding dialogues with various parties and it has no objections to dialogue. "We have an independent Election Commission. We want the election to be participatory."

US MISSION'S ASSESSMENT

The mission said Bangladesh's robust economic growth and tradition of democratic values have set a strong foundation for the country to achieve its 2041 vision of becoming a developed country.

However, the current political environment presents several challenges to electoral integrity, including uncompromising and zero-sum politics, highly charged rhetoric, political violence, a widespread climate of uncertainty and fear, contracting space for civil society and freedom of expression, and a trust deficit among citizens, political leaders, and other stakeholders.

Women, youth, and other marginalised groups also face significant barriers to participation. Bangladesh is at a crossroads and the upcoming elections provide a litmus test for the country's commitment to a democratic, participatory, and competitive political process, the statement said.

"Political paralysis and declining trust in democratic processes cast a shadow on this progress and threatens to undermine the economic and development trajectory," the mission's report said.

During the 2014 and 2018 parliamentary elections, boycotts, violence, strikes, and electoral irregularities undermined the legitimacy of the outcomes among many Bangladeshis. As a result, turnout for national and local elections is now routinely low, it said.

"In an environment of widespread mistrust, lack of political dialogue could lead to increased tensions and significantly escalate violence."

It said while legally the EC can direct election and security officials, "the delegation heard that, in practice, the EC does not have the capacity to independently identify problems on election day or enforce its directives to polls workers and security personnel."

"This creates an opening for undue political influence on voting and counting, decreases public trust in the overall process and blurs the lines of responsibility between the EC and the government regarding the effective and impartial conduct of the election."

The Awami League government has consistently said it intends to hold a free and fair election and has called for international election observers. Still, civil society groups and opposition leaders expressed concern about the EC's neutrality.

The EC's decision to provide registration to relatively unknown new political parties while denying registration to more established parties raises concerns about its impartiality, the mission said.

"Interlocutors also noted the concern that the political affiliation of some EC commissioners undermined its willingness to fairly apply election laws."

It said effective campaign finance oversight requires a strong legal mandate, sufficient resources, and an enforcing mechanism.

However, people the mission spoke to noted that the EC dedicates little resources to the verification of campaign finance reports and has no enforcement power to address irregularities, the report said.

The report recognises that it is the people of Bangladesh who will ultimately determine the credibility and legitimacy of their elections and their country's democratic development.

The mission did not say if it would recommend sending an election observation mission to Bangladesh.

Earlier, a European Union exploratory mission, after visiting Bangladesh, said it would not send a fully-fledged polls observation mission.