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Diplomacy in rescue act?

Govt, opposition take US official Biswal's visit seriously

Staff Correspondent
Diplomatic efforts to resolve the ongoing political crisis may gain momentum during the Dhaka visit of US Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Desai Biswal.
The visit comes against the backdrop of growing political violence with the ruling Awami League and the main opposition BNP sticking to their stances on polls-time government.
Biswal, who flew in yesterday from Japan on a three-day official visit, is expected to meet the country's two top leaders to broker talks between the two rival camps.
The US official responsible for South and
Central Asian Affairs is scheduled to call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at 4:00pm and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia at 8:15pm today.
She will also hold a series of parleys with government officials, labour leaders and civil society members, according to a LIS media note.
At the talks with the US official, the government's policymakers would clarify its position on holding the next parliamentary election in line with the constitution and Hasina's ongoing efforts to form an all-party polls-time government, said sources.
Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury said many countries were making efforts to see a consensus between the ruling and the opposition parties.
"May be Nisha Desai Biswal will take initiatives to see a consensus between the two parties, and we have nothing against it," said Matia, also AL presidium member.
Matia also said the government wanted to hold the election according to the constitution and it wouldn't go beyond the charter.
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On the other hand, the BNP will explain to the US official the reasons for opposing Hasina as head of the election-time government.
The BNP decided not to enforce any hartal during Biswal's visit, as the US is against such programme. But there would be shutdowns again after her visit if no progress was made in holding talks to resolve the crisis, said BNP insiders.
Senior BNP leader Mahbubur Rahman said they eagerly waited for the US official's visit with a hope that she would take steps to see a dialogue between the two sides.
"She visits Dhaka at a time when the coun-try's situation is not good. We hope she will take initiatives to help resolve the ongoing political crisis," Mahbub, member of the BNP standing committee, told The Daily Star yesterday.
He, however, said the possibility of talks between the two camps was thin.
Diplomatic efforts, including UN chiefs phone calls to Hasina and Khaleda and the US secretary of state's letters to the two leaders, to bring the two sides to the negotiating table are yet to yield any result.
Besides, foreign diplomats in Dhaka have been trying to help find a solution to the crisis by engaging the AL and the BNP in talks.
Amid such a situation, Biswal's visit may add pace to their efforts for a while, but any breakthrough in the current political impasse is very unlikely, observe political analysts.
As the US official arrived in the capital yesterday, Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Pankaj Saran told reporters that his country is having discussions with the US and other countries about Bangladesh's political situation.
Meanwhile, politics over dialogue took a new twist, as the BNP suddenly intensified its move to sit for talks with the ruling AL.
Acting BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday claimed he tried several times to contact AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam over the phone for last few days but he got no response from the other side.
Talking with a private TV channel the same day, Ashraf said, "I know his [phone| number and he knows mine. I didn't receive any call from his number."
On Ashrafs statement that he didn't get any call from the BNP leader, Fakhrul said he was not interested to comment on it.
"I don't want to get into a debate over the issue. We want to engage in dialogue over a non-party polls-time government," he said.
Speaking to The Daily Star on condition of anonymity, an AL leader said Ashraf told some of his party colleagues that the prime minister herself was dealing with the issue, and he didn't receive any instructions from her in this regard.
"Ashraf has nothing new to say to the acting BNP secretary general," said the ruling party leader.