AMBASSADOR AND SHEIKH HASINA DISCUSS CHALLENGES

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 001304

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/PB

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/15/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR EAID KDEM PTER BG IN
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR AND SHEIKH HASINA DISCUSS CHALLENGES
FACING NEXT GOVERNMENT

Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

SUMMARY
=======


1. (C) Awami League President Sheikh Hasina told the
Ambassador on 12/15 her party was committed to implementing a
long term strategy to address Bangladesh's development
challenges, focused on agricultural development and
decentralization. Hasina pledged to work closely with the
USG to combat terrorism, including by developing a regional
response to transnational terrorist threats. Hasina's
technocratic advisers expressed concern about electoral code
of conduct violations by the rival Bangladesh Nationalist
Party. For her part, Hasina appeared confident the country's
voters would return her to power and predicted she would be
able to entice the opposition to participate in the political
process. Thus far, all signs indicate Hasina wants to forge
a close partnership with the U.S. should she be elected.

Vision 2021
===========


2. (C) With two weeks remaining until Bangladesh's
parliamentary elections, the Ambassador met with Awami League
President Sheikh Hasina to provide a readout of his recent
visit to Washington and to hear her perspectives on the
ongoing political campaign. Hasina's personal aides and
members of the Awami League's Advisory Council -- including
former Ambassadors Muhammad Zamir and Mohammed Ziauddin and
former Secretary H.T. Imam, who heads the party's election
committee -- took part in the meeting. The Ambassador
complimented Hasina on the party's Election Manifesto, which
was released December 12 (analysis provided septel). Hasina
highlighted the Awami League's commitment to rural
development, focusing on the need to expand agro-industry.
She also emphasized the importance of decentralization,
noting that this went beyond the current government's plans
for holding upazila (county) elections. Hasina said her
goal was not simply to focus on the priorities for the coming
five years, but to look even further ahead. She said the
Awami League's "Vision 2021" set ambitious targets for the
country to achieve by its 50th anniversary of independence.

Regional Approach to Counter Terrorism
======================================


3. (S) During a one-on-one, Hasina pledged to work with the
U.S. to forge a regional approach to counter terrorism. She
agreed with the Ambassador's analysis that the November
attacks in Mumbai represented a threat both to the U.S. and
to the countries within the region. Hasina highlighted her
past success working with India to resolve conflict in
Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts region, noting this also
required dealing with armed groups and the intelligence
agencies which sponsored them. Hasina acknowledged the
challenges she would face in convincing some within
Bangladesh's security establishment of the need to adopt a
new approach to regional cooperation. The Ambassador
promised to provide Hasina with detailed proposals on U.S. -
Bangladesh counter terrorism cooperation following the
elections, if the Awami League were to return to power.

Concerns about BNP Electoral Tactics
====================================


4. (C) Hasina and her technocratic colleagues expressed
concern over a perceived pattern of electoral code of conduct
violations by the rival Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
The AL planned to complain to the Election Commission about
these alleged violations and also to urge election officials
to enforce the code of conduct. The Awami League accused the
BNP of waging a negative campaign, including efforts to
portray Hasina and her party members as anti-Islamic. Hasina
repeated the AL concern about the need for mobile phone
networks to remain functioning on election day in order to
foil attempts to disrupt the process. The Ambassador
acknowledged these concerns, but reminded Hasina of the
procedures in place for resolving complaints on election day.
The Ambassador also highlighted USG efforts to ensure a
robust international observation effort, both on election day
and during the campaign period. Hasina seemed particularly
pleased to learn that IRI would be conducting exit polls to
help verify the credibility of the announced election
results.

Alliance Politics
=================

DHAKA 00001304 002 OF 002




5. (C) Hasina confided to the Ambassador the challenges of
managing her party's alliance with former President Ershad's
Jatiya Party. She complained that some in her party had been
too generous in allocating seats to Jatiya candidates. Even
then, Ershad continued to make unreasonable demands. Hasina
said the next Parliament would elect a new President. She
refused to speculate about Ershad's chances of being chosen.
While preparing to hit the campaign trail later in the day,
Hasina said she thought the electorate had already made up
its mind about whom it would support.

Comment
=======


6. (C) As she had in earlier meetings, Hasina appeared
relaxed and confident that she would return to the Prime
Minister's office. She indulged her colleagues who used
their presence in the meeting to advance their own ideas --
and to toady up to the boss. Towards the end of the meeting,
she introduced the Ambassador to her sister, Sheikh Rehana,
and niece, who arrived from London December 13 to assist her
during the campaign. While clearly suspicious of the BNP's
intentions, Hasina appeared confident that her rival would
take part in elections and would participate in the process
after the results were tallied. For Hasina, her 1996 - 2001
tenure in office was a "golden period" for Bangladesh. She
appears to think that a return to this era is now only weeks
away. So far, all the signals from Hasina are positive
regarding her desire for close relations with the U.S. should
she return to office.
MORIARTY