Germany seeks AL-BNP dialogue for funds

Germany needs a “positive signal” that dialogue between the Awami League and the BNP will resume for an end to political bickering as it is in the process of “negotiating” annual funds for Bangladesh.

“For us it is very important to ensure we don’t leave Bangladesh (budget deficient),” visiting MP Dagmar Wohrl said on Tuesday, “Particularly in the difficult time after the Rana Plaza tragedy.”

“We would like to continue support and to expand our relations,” she said at a press conference, using her interpreter.

She remained sceptical whether the post-elections stability would prevail and pressed for a start of dialogue at the earliest.

Wohrl led a parliamentary delegation marking a year of the Rana Plaza collapse on Apr 24 last year, in which over 1,100 people lost their lives.

It is the first such German delegation visiting Dhaka after Jan 5 elections, which the opposition BNP boycotted, resulting in more than half of the seats returning uncontested winners.

Germany and many other Western countries did not find the elections ‘credible’.

The delegation visited Rana Plaza building site and laid wreaths there to honour the dead, spoke to the survivors and also met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury among others.

They will meet BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Tuesday night before leaving Dhaka on Wednesday.

Bangladesh witnessed an eruption of violence in the run-up to the elections but post-elections the situation has remained stable.

But the visiting MPs are not sure whether the stability will prevail.

Wohrl appreciated the stability, but said “we have some doubts whether it can be maintained for a full period of five years unless substantial dialogue between the major political forces starts, rather sooner than later”.

“We would hope to soon receive a positive signal from Bangladesh in this respect,” she said, adding that they had raised the issue with Hasina.

“This was one of our main priorities in the meeting with the prime minister,” she said.

Wohrl said they were hopeful about getting a positive signal on resumption of dialogue so that “this information can be included in our budget negotiation process”.

She said for them “it is very important to resume the dialogue with the current government as we are in the process of negotiating our budget”.

Wohrl said Germany had been Bangladesh’s partner in development since 1972 and they would be happy to decide how to continue this partnership.

She said since 1972 they had made 2.5 billion euros available for Bangladesh through bilateral aid besides contributing in the “multilateral funds”.

The Awami League and the BNP had long been at loggerheads over the poll-time government after the caretaker system had been scrapped through constitutional amendment.

There had been three rounds of dialogue between them with UN mediation just before the Jan 5 elections, but they failed to come up with any agreed solutions.

Wohrl, after meeting with the Speaker on Monday, had expressed German parliament’s doubts about the acceptability of the current Bangladesh parliament among the people.

On Tuesday, she again expressed German parliament’s concerns.

She said the parliament had been elected “by a small part of the electorate only, with tens of millions of voters having been deprived of the possibility to cast their ballot”.

Replying to a question as to whether Germany would call for fresh polls as soon as possible, she said it was not for them to say that.

“It’s up to the people who live in this country.”

The German parliamentary delegation chief said they were concerned as political parties could not find an agreed mechanism to hold elections.

Germany is one of the major destinations for Bangladesh’s main export, readymade clothes. It is the second biggest market for Bangladesh worldwide.

The two-way trade surpassed $4 billion last year.

Wohrl emphasised that the political issue would not affect trade and economic relations “at all”.

“We are partners; it’s like a family.”

She said they came to see with their own eyes what had been done in a year and what remained to be done in the future after the Rana Palza disaster that shocked the world.

“It is now time for better factories,” she said. “As the largest trading partner, Germany also has responsibilities.”

She acknowledged “some progresses” in factory safety and labour rights issues, but said “it is only the beginning of a long road, which Germany is ready to go with Bangladesh”.

She suggested further amendments to the existing labour laws to ensure labour rights and increase the social standards of workers.

Stefan Rebmann is the deputy head of the seven-member delegation. The other members are MPs Jurgen Klimke, Frank Heinrich, Gabi Weber, Niema Movassat and Uwe Kekeritz.