HASINA RULES OUT NEW TALKS WITH INTERIM MINISTERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 006763 SIPDIS SIPDIS REL GBR, AUS, CAN E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2016 TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM BG SUBJECT: HASINA RULES OUT NEW TALKS WITH INTERIM MINISTERS Classified By: DCM Geeta Pasi, reason para 1.4 d. ¶1. (C) Summary. As the army deployed today nationwide "to aid civil administration," Awami League president Sheikh Hasina told Ambassador there is no point in resuming talks with Caretaker Government advisers because "they know our position and they know what to do." Publicly, the Awami League has taken a wait-and-see approach on army deployment, but Hasina anticipates a lopsided focus on her party. The Awami League is working with the Election Commission on updating the voter list, but its experiences so far are not encouraging, she said. End Summary. ¶2. (C) On December 10, Ambassador and British High Commissioner Anwar Chowdhury called on Awami League president Sheikh Hasina. The meeting had been scheduled over the weekend to press her, and in a separate meeting tonight, her counterpart at the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Khaleda Zia, for flexibility on a compromise package to end the election impasse. However, the meeting was overtaken by the two parties' subsequent repudiation of key elements of the package, particularly whether controversial Election Commissioner Zakaria would stay or go. ¶3. (SBU) In addition, late December 9, President Ahmed, against apparently the unanimous view of his advisers, ordered the nationwide deployment of the army "to aid civil administration" and pre-empt the opposition's planned mass sit-in today at the presidency. Police have invoked legislative powers to ban any form of demonstrations in the vicinity of the presidency until further notice. ¶4. (C) Hasina, who atypically was alone for most of the meeting, told the two heads of mission that the voter list update is not going well. An Awami League-led delegation, she said, would present its concerns to the Election Commission later today but she doubted they would receive a positive response. She cited an instance reported in today's press where 5,000 Awami League supporters in one Dhaka constituency were reportedly dropped from the list in one strongly pro-Awami League ward, and said Awami League voters are having trouble getting local officials to add their names to the list. ¶5. (C) Regarding the army deployment, Hasina noted that the opposition, at the request of Caretaker Government advisers, had already deferred today's planned sit-in at the presidency. She attributed the deployment to President Ahmed's alleged subservience to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which she said would benefit from troops in the streets because of the army's pro-BNP bias. She echoed the public remarks of Awami League leaders last night that they would wait to see if the army acted in a nonpartisan manner, but said her fears were fueled by the raid last night of her cousin's house in the provincial city Barisal by troops looking for weapons and their failure to pay similar attention to a local leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party who, she said, was notorious for violent, criminal activity. ¶6. (C) Asked what lay ahead, Hasina stated there was no point in further talks with the Caretaker Government advisers. "They know our position, and they know what to do." ¶7. (C) Comment: Contacts report that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, fed up with shifting opposition demands and bottom lines, pushed for army deployment almost in a fit of pique. The good news is that emergency rule was not invoked, and the Awami League is biding its time before criticizing the generally well-regarded military. The situation is fluid, though, in part because the former ruling alliance may have finally lost its patience, and because the Awami League is, by all evidence, improvising its strategy as it goes along. BUTENIS