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) -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶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. -------------- -------------- PROMISE OF FRIENDLIER POLITICS QUICKLY EVAPORATES -------------- -------------- ¶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. -------------- - CARETAKER GOVERNMENT REFORMS DIE IN PARLIAMENT -------------- - ¶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. -------------- COMMENT: DYSFUNCTIONAL DEMOCRACY DEJA VU -------------- ¶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