SUPPORT FOR BANGLADESH'S DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION

UNCLAS DHAKA 000550 SIPDIS FOR SCA/FO, SCA/PB, F, AND USAID/ANE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID PGOV KDEM PHUM PREL BG SUBJECT: SUPPORT FOR BANGLADESH'S DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION REF: DHAKA 533 SUMMARY ========= ¶1. (U) As noted reftel, we need additional resources to help Bangladesh pull off successful elections that lead to more stable democracy. For free, fair, and credible elections to take place, an enabling environment with certain conditions must be created in the next few months. Our assistance and engagement throughout the process will be critical in creating, monitoring and sustaining those necessary conditions. ¶2. (U) In addition, immediate post-election conditions must be created to allow a smooth transition to sustainable democracy. We will require an additional $6 million to fund a credible Democracy and Governance Program over the coming year, through the elections and into the initial transition phase. These funds would be used to provide: Political Party Support $2.0 million Elections support $2.6 million Transition Political Process $1.4 million -------------- TOTAL $6.0 million BACKGROUND ========== ¶3. (U) Bangladesh is one of the most populous Muslim nations in the world. It is poor, prone to natural disasters, and ) despite its moderate culture and political discourse ) not immune from social upheaval and conflict. The country was born 37 years ago as an electoral democracy. It has since held democratic elections sporadically, including the three most recent ones that resulted in peaceful transfers of power. It also cultivated a tradition of civic participation and moderate political discourse since returning to democracy in 1991. Yet, Bangladesh's development as a democracy has been interlaced with military rule, debilitating political polarization, ineffective institutions of governance, and rampant corruption. Partisan deadlock over electoral issues led to the cancellation of the 2007 parliamentary election and the establishment of the present military-backed Caretaker Government (CTG),which continues to rule under a state of emergency. ¶4. (U) The government has promised a return to democracy by the end of 2008, and the CTG's Chief Adviser announced May 12 that parliamentary elections would be held the third week of December 2008. However, key components of the government's political reform and anti-corruption campaign will remain far from completed by December. The CTG has implemented other reforms, but they may not be sustained depending on the results of the currently unpredictable national dialogue and the level of political parties, commitment to reform. Maintaining the reform momentum and, at the same time, rehabilitating democratic institutions and processes will require support to political parties and facilitation of dialogue on the pre-requisites for a transition to democracy. USG DEMOCRACY PROMOTION PROGRAMS ================================ ¶5. (U) The USG works with political parties, through USAID-funded assistance, to advance internal party democracy and facilitate intra-party dialogue on reform issues, especially in the current context of preparations for the upcoming parliamentary election. As part of program activities, USAID has helped to facilitate exchanges between political parties and the Election Commission on changes to the electoral law. The USG has supported public opinion surveys, training for women in elected positions, civic education for young voters, and advocacy for access and active participation of the disabled. As a result of the above interventions, USG-funded partners have built a reputation among key political stakeholders and election authorities as a reliable source of technical support for democratic development. PLANNED ACTIVITIES FOR 2008 =========================== ¶6. (U) Planned activities are designed to capitalize on current achievements in support of restoring democracy in Bangladesh. Additional funding will allow USAID to expand its support for democracy within political parties to favor broader participation, facilitate issue-based policy formulation, and facilitate organizational reform to manage potential leadership change in the parties. The USG would also intensify its activities in support of national dialogue and consensus building, especially through intra-party consultations and communication. The USG would scale up its efforts to ensure the transparency of national and local elections by supporting larger domestic and international election observation deployments. The USG would also significantly expand civic and voter education campaigns to engage first-time voters, which constitute almost one third of the electorate in Bangladesh. ¶7. (U) The upcoming election in Bangladesh represents a critical and historic transition in a large and struggling nation. While the electoral process is important to ensure a participatory mechanism for transferring power back to a legitimate government, key post-election activities must be undertaken to engage with the newly-elected Parliament, local government bodies and political parties both in government and in the opposition. Additional funding would be used to support democratic institutions immediately after their emergence. ¶8. (U) Assistance to promote democratic political parties and free and fair elections will have the effect of demonstrating USG commitment to restoring democratic governance in Bangladesh. The continuing and planned activities may be strengthened to: --Promote the fairness and transparency of Bangladesh's upcoming parliamentary and local elections. --Help create an enabling environment conducive to the national election and restoration of democracy. --Promote political party reform and women in politics. --Assess institutional needs of newly elected bodies of governance. ¶9. (U) Our proposed program covers the following specific activities, which fall into three areas, political party support, elections and transition political processes/Parliament. -------------- A) POLITICAL PARTY SUPPORT: -------------- Political party platform development Party dialogues Party polling capacity development Poll agent training Women in politics MP party caucuses -------------- B) ELECTIONS: -------------- Pre-election assessments International long-term observation International short-term observation Domestic observation Post-election roundtables Public opinion surveys and exit polls Youth civic and voter education -------------- --- C) TRANSITION POLITICAL PROCESSES/PARLIAMENT: -------------- --- Parliament orientation Policy working groups (pre/post elections) Women in reserved seats (local and national) National agenda to lobby Parliament for first 100 days COMMENT -------------- ¶10. (U) This is a small investment that will reap huge dividends for democracy. Bangladesh has an enormous Muslim population and is favorably inclined toward the U.S., but facing incredible economic and social challenges. Helping Bangladesh stay on track is a bargain at $6 million. Letting it fail will have incalculable costs. Moriarty