NEW BANGLADESH PARLIAMENT'S FIRST SESSION MARRED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 000365

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/08/2019
TAGS: PGOV PTER KDEM BG
SUBJECT: NEW BANGLADESH PARLIAMENT'S FIRST SESSION MARRED
BY PARTISAN SQUABBLES, WATERED-DOWN LEGISLATION

REF: DHAKA 18

Classified By: CDA a.i. Geeta Pasi. Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d)

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) Partisan squabbling and watering down of
democratic-reform legislation marked the first session of the
new Parliament that ended on 4/7. Despite early pledges to
tone down the highly partisan nature of national politics,
the ruling Awami League fought with the rival Bangladesh
Nationalist Party over everything from Parliament's seating
chart to opposition leader Khaleda Zia's housing. When the
parties weren't engaged in mutual mudslinging, members of
Parliament enacted several ordinances promulgated by the
previous Caretaker Government, including anti-money
laundering and anti-terrorism bills. Parliament also passed
bills that reversed the intent of Caretaker Government
ordinances to promote decentralized governance and the
separation of judicial and executive branches. As a result,
hope that free, fair and credible Parliamentary elections
held in December would usher in an era of broad democratic
reform has yet to be realized. Embassy Dhaka will continue to
urge Awami League leaders to embrace democratic reform and a
more civil political discourse as in the long-term interest
of both the party and the nation.

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PROMISE OF FRIENDLIER POLITICS QUICKLY EVAPORATES
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2. (SBU) The newly elected Awami League government promised
to provide the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)
a meaningful role when Parliament convened after a two-year
hiatus on January 25. For example, the ruling party said the
deputy speaker of Parliament would come from the opposition.
The BNP cried foul, however, when the Awami League later
explained that the BNP would not fill the existing deputy
speaker position but only a second deputy speaker position
that had yet to be created by a constitutional amendment. The
two parties also clashed over which BNP Parliamentarians
should get to chair the few committees the Awami League
promised would be led by the opposition.


3. (SBU) Petty fights between the two major parties also
marked the first session of Parliament. The BNP staged a
walk-out in the session's early days to protest the Awami
League's refusal to assign more front-row seats in Parliament
to opposition members. The two party leaders -- Awami League
President Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairwoman Khaleda Zia --
reveled in taking every opportunity to cut one another down
when speaking before Parliament. The personal attacks
probably hit a low point on April 1 when Hasina suggested
that Zia leave her home on the Dhaka cantonment.

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CARETAKER GOVERNMENT REFORMS DIE IN PARLIAMENT
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4. (SBU) After the Awami League swept the December national
elections, several party leaders told EmbOffs that Parliament
would pass most if not all of the 122 ordinances approved by
the Caretaker Government during 2007-08. By the end of the
first session, Parliament had passed only 32 bills, many of
which bore no resemblance to the original reformist
ordinances. The remaining ordinances lapsed although
Parliament will consider bills based on the substance of 10
of those ordinances when it reconvenes.


5. (SBU) Among the Caretaker Government measures enacted into
law by Parliament were the Money Laundering Prevention
Ordinance and the Anti-Terrorism Ordinance. Although not
perfectly aligned with international standards, the measures
represented significant progress and were strongly supported
by the U.S. Government and other countries that work with
Bangladesh to fight terrorism. (reftel) Among other
ordinances enacted into law was a right-to-information
measure that set a higher standard of government
transparency, although it did not go as far as many in the
media had sought.


6. (SBU) Among the ordinances not passed by Parliament was a
measure to create a non-partisan selection committee to
recommend candidates for judicial appointments. The Awami
League replaced other political reform ordinances with
legislation that ran counter to the Caretaker Government's
original intent. For instance, the Caretaker Government

DHAKA 00000365 002 OF 002


approved an ordinance to strengthen the power of upazilla
(county) officials to promote more effective local governance
and reduce the risk of corruption. Parliament, however,
ultimately passed a bill requiring upazilla councils to heed
the advice of members of Parliament, a system that in the
past has fueled widespread corruption. Another example was
the fate of a Caretaker Government ordinance aimed at
separating the executive and the judiciary. The bill
Parliament ultimately passed instead returned some judicial
power back to executive magistrates. The new law additionally
empowered the government to determine which executive
magistrates would be able to exercise those judicial powers,
further consolidating political clout within the ruling party.

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COMMENT: DYSFUNCTIONAL DEMOCRACY DEJA VU
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7. (C) The new Parliament's first session did not bode well
for efforts to promote democratic reform in this
overwhelmingly moderate Muslim country of about 150 million.
Parliament's actions have fallen far short of the promise of
the December 2008 elections, which were widely seen as a
strong start to fixing Bangladesh's endemically violent and
corrupt politics. Still, it is far too early to write off
political reform efforts, and U.S. Government engagement with
the Government of Bangladesh, political parties and civil
society remains crucial to strengthening democracy in and
bringing stability to this strategically important nation.


PASI