QUAD "TEA GROUP" DISCUSSES ELECTIONS WITH PM'S

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 004254

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/11/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM PHUM BG
SUBJECT: QUAD "TEA GROUP" DISCUSSES ELECTIONS WITH PM'S
FOREIGN AFFAIRS ADVISOR

REF: A. 06 OTTAWA 06186


B. 06 DHAKA 03870

Classified By: Ambassador Patricia Butenis; reason 1.4(d)


1. (C) Ambassador hosted a dinner for Reaz Rahman, the Prime
Minister's Foreign Policy Advisor, on July 9. British High
Commissioner Anwar Chowdhury and Australian High Commissioner
Doug Foskett also attended. (Canadian High Commissioner
remains out of the country.) The purpose of the dinner was to
brief Rahman on the outcome of the Ottawa meeting on South
Asia held on May 26, 2006. (Reftels)


2. (C) Ambassador briefly summarized the key discussion
points regarding Bangladesh. She stressed that Bangladesh was
not the only agenda item, that the participants at the May 26
meeting (US, UK, Australia and Canada) were friends of
Bangladesh, and that they were committed to supporting the
electoral process and the GOB's counter-terrorism efforts.

GOB SENSITIVITIES
======================


3. (C) Rahman, a retired career diplomat and friendly toward
the U.S., cautioned that as the time for the caretaker
government neared, the GOB's sensitivity about ambassadors
speaking out would only increase. He said that the BNP
already felt that the line had been crossed several times,
and that "the Prime Minister was pretty upset." He
specifically cited a television interview by the British HC
on July 7 (the anniversary of the London bombings) and the
Ambassador's visits to victims of political violence. Rahman
said that the BNP was particularly sensitive to public
discussion of "political violence" because this was used by
India as justification for demanding the cancellation of the
SAARC summit in Dhaka last November.


4. (C) Regarding the Parliamentary Standing Committee's
denunciation of "meddlesome diplomats" and call for their
expulsion, Rahman said that he had explained to the MPs that
other countries were naturally interested in developments and
that in any event, PNGing diplomats in Dhaka would result in
retaliation toward GOB diplomats. Nontheless Rahman felt that
the ambassadors should "tone it down." He said that it was
better to be more careful, even if pressed by our capitals,
or the "reservoir of goodwill" would disappear and we would
be misinterpreted as siding with the Awami League (AL).

FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS
=========================


5. (C) Rahman went on to say that the BNP did not appreciate
calls for "free and fair elections," given that Bangladesh
has already had three successful elections. Diplomats should
stop saying that a free and fair election is crucial to the
country's future. "We know this already, and many people say
it's the only good thing we've had in the past 15 years."


6. (C) On the election, Rahman said that if the election were
held now, the BNP and its coalition would win an absolute
majority. He also questioned why the AL was so concerned
about the role of the military during the elections, since
several AL MPs were former army officers, and people do not
generally view the military as pro-BNP.


7. (C) COMMENT: The discussion was quite friendly and the
ambassadors made the point that while the BNP may have
confidence in a free and fair election, the opposition did
not, and was pressuring the international community to speak
out. At the end of the evening the Australian HC perfectly
captured the atmosphere of political discussion in
Bangladesh: "If you are truly impartial, you will agree with
me." END COMMENT.
BUTENIS