NEW CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER PROMISES NEUTRAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 002702

SIPDIS

CORRECTED COPY -- RIGHT MARGIN ADJUSTED,
PARAS RE-NUMBERED

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/09/2010
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM BG BGD
SUBJECT: NEW CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER PROMISES NEUTRAL
ELECTIONS

REF: A. DHAKA 02407


B. DHAKA 02666

Classified By: P/E Counselor D.C. McCullough, reason para 1.4 d.


1. (C) Summary. The new Chief Election Commissioner
says he has the tools and the commitment to do the job
right, but his characterization of the notorious Dhaka
10 by-election last year as free and fair calls
into question his credibility and candor. End Summary.


2. (SBU) On June 8, P/E counselor and intern (notetaker)
called on recently appointed Chief Election Commissioner
(CEC) M.A. Aziz. EC Secretary S.M. Zakaria sat in and
actively participated in the one-hour discussion.

Challenges
--------------


3. (C) With Bangladesh's fiercely competitive political
culture deeply rooted in "black" money and thuggery,
Aziz said, his job is like an "active volcano."
However, with the cooperation of the media, the
parties, and the country as a whole, he is confident of
success.


4. (C) Asked to comment on his the six electoral reform
proposals of previous CEC Syed (ref a),Aziz addressed
only one, for electronic voting machines. He stated
that he has looked at the Indian experience,
and that introducing such machines in Bangladesh would
be "time consuming." He affirmed that the EC is
already fully independent, that the Finance Ministry is
always responsive to EC requests for resources, and
there is not enough time before the "2007" election
to pursue Syed's reforms.

5.(C) According to Zakaria, updating the voter list
-- with more than 50 million names -- will start in
July and should conclude within nine months. Like its
predecessor, the new list will be on-line.

A Model Election
--------------


6. (C) Aziz praised the May 9 Chittagong mayoral
election as a "model" because of the lack of violence
and the broad acceptance of the results. Asked about
opposition Awami League (AL) allegations that the BNP
tried to hijack the vote count at the last minute,
Zakaria said that a two-hour delay in announcing
results was logistical. The tens of thousands of AL
supporters gathered in front of city hall that night,
he said, obstructed the conveyance by officials of
the vote tallies from the 753 polling stations, each
one represented by about 10 persons: a returning
officer, polling agents, and a police escort. When
Zakaria explained the problem to AL SYG Abdul Jalil,
who along with other AL leaders was at CEC
headquarters in Dhaka scrutinizing the process, Jalil
phoned his colleagues in Chittagong and paths were
created for the polling officials.

Dhaka 10 - Free and Fair
--------------


7. (C) Asked how he'd confront the sort of problems
that plagued the notorious Dhaka 10 by-election last
summer, when observers witnessed multiple, large-scale
irregularities on behalf of the BNP candidate, Aziz
attributed the loss of the opposition candidate --
Abdul Manan of Bikalpa Dara -- to poor organization
within Manan's party and weak support from the Awami
League. Manan's early statement at 0900 on polling
day that he was withdrawing from the race showed his
true "mindset." (Note: Manan's announcement
actually came around 1230.) Moreover, he said,
Election Commissioner Shafiqur Rahman, who was
supervising the election and who is a "die-hard Awami
Leaguer," has assured Aziz that the election was free
and fair. Aziz said he is comfortable with that
judgment.

Comment
--------------


8. (C) Aziz, a judge from the appellate division
of the supreme court, is imperious and self-confident.
His assertion that the Dhaka 10 by-election was free
and fair calls into serious question his credibility
and candor.
THOMAS