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Viewing cable 08DHAKA550, SUPPORT FOR BANGLADESH'S DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08DHAKA550 2008-05-22 10:40 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Dhaka
VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKA #0550/01 1431040
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 221040Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6784
UNCLAS DHAKA 000550 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR SCA/FO, SCA/PB, F, AND USAID/ANE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID PGOV KDEM PHUM PREL BG
SUBJECT: SUPPORT FOR BANGLADESH'S DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION 
 
REF: DHAKA 533 
 
SUMMARY 
========= 
 
1. (U)  As noted reftel, we need additional resources to help 
Bangladesh pull off successful elections that lead to more 
stable democracy.  For free, fair, and credible elections to 
take place, an enabling environment with certain conditions 
must be created in the next few months.  Our assistance and 
engagement throughout the process will be critical in 
creating, monitoring and sustaining those necessary 
conditions. 
 
2. (U)  In addition, immediate post-election conditions must 
be created to allow a smooth transition to sustainable 
democracy. We will require an additional $6 million to fund a 
credible Democracy and Governance Program over the coming 
year, through the elections and into the initial transition 
phase.  These funds would be used to provide: 
 
Political Party Support       $2.0 million 
Elections support             $2.6 million 
Transition Political Process $1.4 million 
------------------------------------------- 
TOTAL             $6.0 million 
 
BACKGROUND 
========== 
 
3. (U) Bangladesh is one of the most populous Muslim nations 
in the world.  It is poor, prone to natural disasters, and ) 
despite its moderate culture and political discourse ) not 
immune from social upheaval and conflict.  The country was 
born 37 years ago as an electoral democracy.  It has since 
held democratic elections sporadically, including the three 
most recent ones that resulted in peaceful transfers of 
power.  It also cultivated a tradition of civic participation 
and moderate political discourse since returning to democracy 
in 1991.  Yet, Bangladesh's development as a democracy has 
been interlaced with military rule, debilitating political 
polarization, ineffective institutions of governance, and 
rampant corruption.  Partisan deadlock over electoral issues 
led to the cancellation of the 2007 parliamentary election 
and the establishment of the present military-backed 
Caretaker Government (CTG), which continues to rule under a 
state of emergency. 
 
4. (U)  The government has promised a return to democracy by 
the end of 2008, and the CTG's Chief Adviser announced May 12 
that parliamentary elections would be held the third week of 
December 2008.  However, key components of the government's 
political reform and anti-corruption campaign will remain far 
from completed by December.  The CTG has implemented other 
reforms, but they may not be sustained depending on the 
results of the currently unpredictable national dialogue and 
the level of political parties, commitment to reform. 
Maintaining the reform momentum and, at the same time, 
rehabilitating democratic institutions and processes will 
require support to political parties and facilitation of 
dialogue on the pre-requisites for a transition to democracy. 
 
USG DEMOCRACY PROMOTION PROGRAMS 
================================ 
 
5.  (U)  The USG works with political parties, through 
USAID-funded assistance, to advance internal party democracy 
and facilitate intra-party dialogue on reform issues, 
especially in the current context of preparations for the 
upcoming parliamentary election.  As part of program 
activities, USAID has helped to facilitate exchanges between 
political parties and the Election Commission on changes to 
the electoral law.  The USG has supported public opinion 
surveys, training for women in elected positions, civic 
education for young voters, and advocacy for access and 
active participation of the disabled.  As a result of the 
above interventions, USG-funded partners have built a 
reputation among key political stakeholders and election 
authorities as a reliable source of technical support for 
democratic development. 
 
PLANNED ACTIVITIES FOR 2008 
=========================== 
 
6. (U) Planned activities are designed to capitalize on 
current achievements in support of restoring democracy in 
Bangladesh.  Additional funding will allow USAID to expand 
its support for democracy within political parties to favor 
broader participation, facilitate issue-based policy 
formulation, and facilitate organizational reform to manage 
potential leadership change in the parties.  The USG would 
also intensify its activities in support of national dialogue 
and consensus building, especially through intra-party 
consultations and communication.  The USG would scale up its 
efforts to ensure the transparency of national and local 
elections by supporting larger domestic and international 
election observation deployments.  The USG would also 
significantly expand civic and voter education campaigns to 
engage first-time voters, which constitute almost one third 
of the electorate in Bangladesh. 
 
7. (U)  The upcoming election in Bangladesh represents a 
critical and historic transition in a large and struggling 
nation.  While the electoral process is important to ensure a 
participatory mechanism for transferring power back to a 
legitimate government, key post-election activities must be 
undertaken to engage with the newly-elected Parliament, local 
government bodies and political parties both in government 
and in the opposition.  Additional funding would be used to 
support democratic institutions immediately after their 
emergence. 
 
8. (U)  Assistance to promote democratic political parties 
and free and fair elections will have the effect of 
demonstrating USG commitment to restoring democratic 
governance in Bangladesh.  The continuing and planned 
activities may be strengthened to: 
 
--Promote the fairness and transparency of Bangladesh's 
upcoming parliamentary and local elections. 
 
--Help create an enabling environment conducive to the 
national election and restoration of democracy. 
 
--Promote political party reform and women in politics. 
 
--Assess institutional needs of newly elected bodies of 
governance. 
 
9. (U)  Our proposed program covers the following specific 
activities, which fall into three areas, political party 
support, elections and transition political 
processes/Parliament. 
 
------------------------------------- 
A) POLITICAL PARTY SUPPORT: 
------------------------------------- 
 
Political party platform development 
Party dialogues 
Party polling capacity development 
Poll agent training 
Women in politics 
MP party caucuses 
 
------------------------------- 
B) ELECTIONS: 
------------------------------- 
 
Pre-election assessments 
International long-term observation 
International short-term observation 
Domestic observation 
Post-election roundtables 
Public opinion surveys and exit polls 
Youth civic and voter education 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
C) TRANSITION POLITICAL PROCESSES/PARLIAMENT: 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
Parliament orientation 
Policy working groups (pre/post elections) 
Women in reserved seats (local and national) 
National agenda to lobby Parliament for first 100 days 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
10. (U)  This is a small investment that will reap huge 
dividends for democracy.  Bangladesh has an enormous Muslim 
population and is favorably inclined toward the U.S., but 
facing incredible economic and social challenges.   Helping 
Bangladesh stay on track is a bargain at $6 million. 
Letting it fail will have incalculable costs. 
Moriarty