Bangladesh PM's dialogue offer "good starting point": UN

A top UN official today termed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's dialogue offer to the opposition as a good "starting point" to resolve the current political crisis in Bangladesh, but feared the failure of talks could invite an unwanted scenario.
"It is good starting point," visiting UN assistant secretary general Oscar Fernandez-Taranco said, referring to the Prime Minister's dialogue offer to opposition parties to end the ongoing political impasse in the country.
He, however, warned that the "history of Bangladesh" suggests what the consequence could be unless the political leadership could resolve their differences through a constructive dialogue on the electoral system.

"The quicker the dialogue starts the easier it will be to find solutions," he said at a press conference on the final day of his four-day Bangladesh tour.
Fernandez was apparently referring to the installation of the military-backed interim government in 2006 when the army intervened after the rivalry between the then ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party and opposition Awami League witnessed an extreme stage ahead of scheduled elections.
The army-backed interim government eventually handed over power to the now ruling Awami League following the landmark 2008 general election which earned it three-fourths majority in the 300-seat Parliament.
However, tension reappeared amid growing differences between the two parties over the electoral system with BNP, joined by its crucial fundamentalist ally Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), demanding restoration of a non-party caretaker government for election oversight amending the constitution.

Awami League insists the caretaker government had been proved counter-productive in the past as the army intervened taking advantage of the system, while entrusting non-elected people with temporary state power was contrary to constitution and democratic spirit.