Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, has written to both Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition, offered his help and said he was still hopeful the two bickering leaders would move towards ‘all-party’ general elections in January.
Ban in his letter confirmed that one of his top deputies, Assistant Secretary General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, would travel to Dhaka from Dec 6-10 to try to broker a deal between the two political camps.
“Mr Ban said he believed a free and fair election was still possible in Bangladesh,” a highly-placed source said, speaking on condition that he not be named, “that the UN would provide all possible technical support.”
Any specific proposal? Will he try to mediate?
“Not really,” said the source who has been one of the few to have read the letter for Prime Minister.
“But there are indications that he will try to mediate.”
The source said the most senior UN official for political affairs would hold talks with all the parties and stakeholders during the four-day trip.
The letter to Sheikh Hasina was handed to Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque on Wednesday by Neil Walker, the UN Resident Coordinator in Dhaka.
Top officials from both sides on Friday confirmed the letters had reached the two leaders but said they were not in a position to disclose the content, kicking off speculations in the media.
Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali on Friday only confirmed the receipt of the UN chief’s letter addressed to Hasina.
Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, a BNP Vice Chairman, had earlier said that the UN letter reached Khaleda Zia on Thursday and “a letter has also been sent to the Prime Minister”.
But there had been no word from the Prime Minister’s Office and its spokespersons until confirmation late Friday night to bdnews24.com from the recently-appointed soft-spoken Foreign Minister Ali, a celebrated former diplomat famed for his defection to Bangladesh in 1971 while serving as a Pakistani diplomat in the US.
Source: UNBConnect