Diplomats must not try to dictate elections

BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain yesterday asked the foreign envoys to adhere to diplomatic norms and not interfere with affairs unique to the country.
He, however, added that the diplomats can help ensure a free and fair conduct of the upcoming election.
The BNP secretary general made the remarks when a six-member delegation of the United Nations (UN) met the senior BNP leaders at the party headquarters.
The BNP-led four-party alliance maintains that some foreign envoys, among others, had a hand in staging the 1/11 changeover last year to stop the ninth parliamentary polls then scheduled for January 22.
Coming out of the two hours long discussions that began at 9:00am, UN Resident Coordinator in Dhaka Renata Lok Dessallien said they hope the political parties including Awami League (AL) and BNP will participate in the election.
The meeting was held preparatory to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's visit to Bangladesh early November to observe situation in the lead-up to the December 18 election.
Members of the UN advanced mission led by Hitoki Den, head of the UN team on political affairs for South Asia, Asia and the Pacific region, accompanied Dessallien at the talks.
“We told them that the foreign diplomats should not make any comments that go against our national interests and violate the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations," Delwar told reporters after the meet.
"They must not try to dictate how our election should be conducted," he added.
At the meeting, the UN delegation enquired about BNP's stance on registration with the Election Commission (EC) and the prospect of December 18 polls being held under the state of emergency.
"We said BNP is always an election-oriented organisation and it wants to contest the upcoming polls as well," Delwar continued.
"We also told them we want to get registered with the Election Commission, but all barriers in this regard will have to be removed."
The BNP leaders told Dessallien that they would not participate in any election with the state of emergency in force.
The UN resident coordinator told reporters they have a good grasp of the situation ahead of Ban Ki-moon's visit.
"We certainly want all political parties to participate in the election," she said.
She observed that particularly participation of the two major parties--AL and BNP--is crucial.
Dessallien said the next government will have to contend with a number of problems including food price hike and the fallout from global economic meltdown.
She said she hopes the opposition parties will play a useful role in parliament.
BNP senior leaders RA Gani, Tanbir Ahmed Siddiky, Shamsul Islam, MK Anwar and Nazrul Islam Khan were present at the meeting.