Daily Star: Monday, March 31, 2008 07:32 PM GMT+06:00
German parliamentary team stresses party reforms
Asks govt to lift or relax emergency
Staff Correspondent
A visiting German parliamentary delegation yesterday said Berlin would not show any understanding and would exert political influence if the caretaker government in Bangladesh shows "unwillingness" to pass on power to an elected government.
Expressing its optimism that the general elections are going to be held by the end of this year, the six-member delegation stressed the need for internal democratic reforms of the political parties and asked the government to either relax or lift the state of emergency to pave the way for it.
"If we see it is simply the government that does not want to pass on power, then we would certainly not show any understanding for this and exert our political influence and insist that the election be held soon," said Thilo Hoppe, head of the German delegation.
If the state of emergency continues for a long period, Germany will think that the caretaker government "is not playing by the rules", he said, adding that Germany will then enter in a critical dialogue with the Bangladesh government.
Hoppe was talking to reporters at a press conference at Zia International Airport after Wrapping up the four-day visit of the delegation of the Committee for Economic Cooperation and Development of the German Bundestag.
The delegation flew in on March 26 and met the foreign affairs adviser, Economic Relations Division secretary, senior leaders of Awami League and the reformist group of BNP, donors of bilateral and multilateral development cooperation, NGOs and rights organisations.
Hoppe said democracy can only work if the parties intending to run for elections have internal democratic structure. He stressed the need for having the will to allow internal democratic reforms within the parties so that candidates are not nominated by party leadership.
Party convention should be held and leadership and candidates should be elected by the grassroots level. "To be frank, this was not the case in the past where the leadership determined from above who the candidates should be," he said.
Introducing a law for political parties would be helpful to make parties willing to contest elections register and meet some standards for registration, he noted.
The state of emergency will have to be lifted or relaxed "so that the parties can elect their candidates democratically, candidates can come up and mobilise for an election campaign", Hoppe said, adding, "Democratic structure cannot work if the work of a party is locked and impeded."
Asked about German response to election not being held in Bangladesh as promised, Hoppe expressed optimism that the polls would be held in time, but said, "If we are to speculate what if not, Germany would have to enter into critical dialogue [with the Bangladesh government] and ask for reasons."
He said, "If, for instance, parties were to be the reasons--if they did not wish to pursue internal democratic reform or if there was a danger of falling back into a situation the way it was before the state of emergency was declared--then we would show some sort of understanding why the elections would have to be postponed."
When his attention was drawn to a foreign office request to foreign diplomats not to talk on internal affairs, Hoppe said, "We are democratically elected representatives from Germany. Being able to express one's opinion freely and openly is also part of a dialogue. This is part of democracy."
Asked how long Germany will continue its support to an unelected government, he said, "We cooperate with our project partners on the ground that they support the poorest of the poor. If the government makes a mistake and does not go by the rule, it would be a mistake for us to stop our cooperation.
"We did not get any impression that the government is trying to practise some sort of dictatorship; they rather wish to undertake reforms and pursue democracy, have an election by the end of the year."
Deeply impressed with a strongly committed civil society and NGOs fighting for the rights of women, the poor and victims of acid violence, Hoppe urged the caretaker government and future governments to hold dialogues with NGOs so that they can make positive contribution to the society's development.
On sustainable development and economic growth, he said, "What is particularly important to us is that this economic growth also benefits the poorest of the poor."
A well-functioning independent human rights commission is of utmost importance for Bangladesh, he said.
Citing examples of eviction of farmers and people from their land for shrimp cultivation and major coal projects without resettlement and compensation, Hoppe said, "There cannot be infringement of rights of people in the name of economic progress."
German Ambassador to Bangladesh Frank Meyeke was present at the press conference.
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