Taranco to try talks again

The UN’s Oscar Fernandez-Taranco will come to Dhaka on Dec 6, nearly seven months after his first effort to mediate talks between the Awami League and the BNP over the nature of the polls-time government.

A top official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed bdnews24.com on Wednesday of the visit of the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs.

He will arrive a day after the deadline for screening the nomination papers for the general election will end.

Earlier in the day, UN Resident Coordinator Neil Walker met with Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque and Chief Election Commission Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad where officials said he discussed many issues including the visit.

The senior United Nations political official first visited Dhaka from May 10 to May 13 and pitched for an immediate dialogue among political parties to find a solution to the current crisis.

“The quicker the dialogue starts, the easier it’ll be to find solutions,” he had said after meeting different interlocutors including the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Opposition Leader Khaleda Zia.

He had been in Dhaka ‘at the request’ of the UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon and had conveyed ‘strong message’ to major parties.

But even after seven months, the political situation remained volatile with escalating violence after the ruling Awami League installed an 'all-party' cabinet which the BNP stayed off.

The Election Commission announced roadmap to parliamentary polls with the voting to take place on Jan 5.

The UN chief had even also phoned the two top leaders, but could not make a way out.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this time Taranco will also meet with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, apart from his meetings with the representatives of different stakeholders.

Ruling Awami League and opposition BNP have taken completely opposite stance over the nature of an election-time government.

Diplomats, particularly those of the western countries, are actively trying to end Bangladesh’s politics of confrontation.

The US Assistant Secretary for South Asia Nisha Desai Biswal recently visited Dhaka and spoke with political leaders, apart from meeting the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition.

File Photo

File Photo

Taranco also phoned the two secretary generals last October when ruling Awami League General Secretary called his BNP counterpart after getting a letter from him.

But during his first visit, he insisted on ‘home-grown’ solutions.

He said he was assigned by Ban Ki-Moon who he said was a ‘very close friend’ of Bangladesh’s two political arch-rivals Hasina and Khaleda.

“We don’t have any formula, even we didn’t come to give any formula.....Rather we encourage (all) to seek solutions,” he said and that “solutions have to be home-grown,” he had said.