VZCZCXRO2978
RR RUEHCI
DE RUEHKA #0922/01 2460941
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 020941Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7299
INFO RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 2314
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0796
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 9824
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 8584
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 1426

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 000922 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM BG
SUBJECT: ELECTORAL REFORM BID DRAWS FLAK FROM POLITICAL PARTIES 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (SBU) New provisions in the electoral law promulgated by the 
Caretaker Government (CTG) are designed to clean-up Bangladesh's 
deeply corrupt politics. The major political parties, which 
historically have resisted internal reforms, have argued that some 
of the provisions are undemocratic and that they do not in any case 
have enough time to comply with the requirements for registration 
for Parliamentary elections scheduled for December. The Bangladesh 
Nationalist Party (BNP) already has refused to register with the 
Election Commission (EC) under the new provisions. Still, the 
Government is keen to have all parties compete in the election and 
could work out compromises during discussions with the parties 
scheduled in the coming weeks. End Summary 
 
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FAR-REACHING ELECTORAL CHANGES 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (U) On August 19, the CTG published the Representation of the 
People (Amendment) Ordinance, 2008, which makes significant changes 
to the electoral law in effect since 1972. Under the amended 
ordinance, candidates must reveal information about their education, 
wealth, and any criminal records when they file to run for 
Parliament. Political parties must submit statements to the EC 
outlining election expenditures and sources of funds. Anyone seeking 
to run for Parliament for the first time as an independent must 
collect signatures from 1 percent of the people in their 
constituency. 
 
¶3. (U) The ordinance mandates all political parties must register 
with the EC to contest Parliamentary elections; the deadline for the 
upcoming Parliament vote is October 15. Only parties that won at 
least one seat in Parliament in previous elections or that have 
functional central committees and offices in at least 10 districts 
and 50 sub-districts qualify. They cannot have student, labor, women 
or any other front organizations (which traditionally have provided 
strong electoral support to the parties). They also must amend party 
constitutions to ensure committees at all levels are elected and to 
set the goal of reserving one-third of those seats for women by 
¶2020. They must ensure that local party structures have significant 
influence in the candidate selection process. 
 
 
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PARTIES RAISE OBJECTIONS 
------------------------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) Rejecting the ordinance, BNP Secretary General Khandker 
Delwar Hossain told the Embassy that his party simply could not 
comply with some of the provisions. He said restrictions on 
political activity under the State of Emergency and the short 
timeframe would make it impossible for the BNP Central Council to 
amend the party constitution per the new law by the October 15 
deadline. Barrister Abdur Razzaq, a leader of the BNP's alliance 
partner Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), said his party already fulfilled 
almost all the requirements set forth by the EC for registration but 
had not yet made a decision on whether to register. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Awami League Acting General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam 
criticized some of the new electoral provisions but did not outright 
reject the new ordinance. Islam told the Embassy that his party 
would try to reach a compromise through its dialogue with the EC, 
due to resume in early September. He said he approved of much of the 
new law but added that it contained what he described as 
undemocratic provisions, such as the prohibition on front 
organizations. He also questioned the provision for allowing voters 
to cast a "no vote" in Parliamentary elections, saying it was not 
clear how that would improve democracy. Islam said his party might 
be able to hold a council meeting by the end of September if the 
government lifted or significantly relaxed the state of emergency. 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) A High Court bench on August 28 ordered the government to 
explain the constitutionality of the sections on reserving political 
positions for women, on demanding conformity of party objectives to 
the constitution, and on non-discrimination regarding religion, 
race, caste, language or sex in the party constitutions. The BNP 
Secretary General promised more legal challenges to come, saying the 
CTG had no constitutional authority to make major policy decisions. 
 
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CTG ACKNOWLEDGES PROBLEMS, PROMISES FLEXIBILITY 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
 
DHAKA 00000922  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) Law Adviser A.F. Hassan Ariff acknowledged both the poor 
timing of the new ordinance and the legitimacy of political party 
complaints that it would be difficult to adopt the stipulated 
reforms for the December elections. Ariff said the amendments would 
have been welcomed by the people if made soon after the state of 
emergency declaration in January 2007, when there was a nationwide 
clamor for political reform to battle widespread graft and violence. 
Ariff said the government would favorably consider any EC proposal 
to relax some provisions of the Emergency Power Rules if it helped 
the political parties hold council meetings in a timely fashion to 
adopt the required reforms. Meanwhile, the EC has invited major 
political parties for separate meetings to discuss party 
registration issues. Notably, the EC invited the mainstream BNP 
leaders, who were excluded from initial rounds of dialogue in favor 
of reformists. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
COMMENT: NEW LAWS UNLIKELY TO DERAIL ELECTIONS 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶8. (SBU) While there are legitimate practical concerns over 
compliance and time constraints, the lengthy foot-dragging among 
political parties with respect to any meaningful reforms suggests 
they hope to resist such change. The new reforms have the potential 
to promote transparency in party financing, internal party 
democracy, and women's participation, all of which could challenge 
the entrenched power of party leaders. The BNP in particular is a 
top-down organization, the legacy of its founder, Ziaur Rahman. 
Still, the CTG has made clear it wants all political parties to 
participate in the Parliamentary elections to ensure they are 
perceived as free, fair and credible. That suggests the EC and the 
Caretaker Government are likely to be responsive to at least some of 
the parties' complaints. 
 
MORIARTY