In
Bangladesh,
Ban Meets
Opposition, No
Comment on
Democracy or
Justice
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 14 --
Opposition
leaders often
ask to meet
with Ban
Ki-moon,
because he is
Secretary
General of the
UN. Sometimes
Ban
meets with
them: when is
not clear, nor
why.
This just took
place in
Bangladesh,
where Khaleda
Zia told Ban "Bangladesh’s
democracy
is now under
threat
following the
scrapping of
the non-party
caretaker
government
system. She
sought the
United
Nations’ due
role to this
end as the UN
plays an
active role
for
establishing
democracy in
member
states."
Based
on this
report, Inner
City Press
asked Ban's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
for the
UN's read-out
of the
meeting.
Nesirky
claimed he had
just spoken
about it. But
all he'd said
was "the
Secretary-General
also met
with Khaleda
Zia, the
Leader of the
Opposition,
and he also
visited
the
International
Centre for
Diarrhoeal
Disease
Research."
Inner
City Press
asked
Inner
City
Press: it’s
reported in
Bangladesh
that the
Secretary-General
met with this
Khaleda Zia,
the opposition
leader, and
her readout of
the meeting is
that they
discussed that
the scrapping
of the
non-party
Government has
led to a a
deficit in
democracy,
asking for
UN help and
about this
international
crimes
tribunal
they’re
setting up.
So, I
wondered, what
did the
Secretary-General
have to
say to the
opposition
leader on the
idea of
democracy
being going
down in
Bangladesh?
What’s the
UN’s role?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
It wasn’t just
reported in
Bangladesh, I
just read it
out, Matthew,
so it is
reported here
in New York as
well.
Inner
City
Press: So what
is the UN
going to
actually do?
Spokesperson:
So I think
what we’ll see
is a readout a
little later,
but I don’t
have it now.
A
full seven
hours
later, there
was no
read-out,
beyond a
photo.
(c) UN Photo
Ban &
Begum Khaleda
Zia, read out
on democracy
deficit not
shown
Is it
because she's
with the
opposition?
What DOES the
UN do in
Bangladesh? If
the UN can't
answer
this simple
question when
the Secretary
General is in
the country,
when can it?
Watch this
site.
, 
