INTER-PARTY ELECTION TALKS RESUME: MORE FORM OVER

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 006301 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/16/2011 TAGS: KDEM PHUM PGOV BG SUBJECT: INTER-PARTY ELECTION TALKS RESUME: MORE FORM OVER SUBSTANCE REF: DHAKA 06224 Classified By: CDA Geeta Pasi, reason para 1.4 d. ¶1. (SBU) On October 16, Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary-general Mannan Bhuiyan and Abdul Jalil, his SIPDIS counterpart from the opposition Awami League, met for 45 minutes in the fifth round of inter-party talks on the upcoming election. Afterwards, both leaders told reporters they had made progress, and are hopeful of a positive outcome. Jalil claimed a consensus had been reached. The next step, they agreed, is to discuss the talks at the party level after PM Zia returns on October 21 and Awami League president Hasina returns on October 22 or 23. ¶2. (C) In a subsequent private conversation, Bhuiyan told us there has in fact been no substantive progress beyond the further clarification of both sides' positions. "Everything depends on the two leaders," he said, "and neither of them left any guidelines for concessions." In a separate conversation, Jalil confirmed there was no agreement on anything "concrete." ¶3. (C) Comment: There continues to be a huge gap between what BNP and AL leaders say publicly and privately about the talks. Instead of being the decisive round as widely anticipated, today's inconclusive session shows that neither party, including the Awami League, is ready to pull the plug and perhaps spark a crisis before the government gives way to the caretaker regime on or about October 28. By the same token, prospects for a breakthrough deal on the selection of the chief caretaker adviser are looking more and more remote. PASI