The US Ambassador Dan Mozena left Bangladesh after completing his tour of duty without a farewell call on the Prime Minister. This has caused a major wave not just in the diplomatic circles but also in the political circles in Dhaka. For unexplained reasons, he was not granted the opportunity to make a farewell call on the head of the government. Recently though, the departing Pakistani High Commissioner made a farewell call on the Prime Minister as part of established protocol for departing Ambassadors/High Commissioners. An exception has thus been made in case of Ambassador Mozena, which is extremely unusual. There has so far been no official statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the issue.
Some people tend to say that all outgoing Ambassadors should not expect farewell call on the Prime Minister. Such an argument is based on the assumption that most Ambassadors who are posted to Dhaka are not sufficiently senior officials in their respective governments to deserve a call upon the Prime Minister. Such an argument reveals an utter lack of knowledge about the status of an Ambassador in a receiving country and diplomatic protocol. When a country sends an Ambassador to another country, he/she is sent as a representative of its sovereign authority to the sovereign authority of the receiving country. In fact, an Ambassador's official title is Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. Therefore, what position an Ambassador held in his/her country before being posted to a receiving country as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary is irrelevant.
Nevertheless, each country has its own protocol of receiving an Ambassador and seeing him/her off. Ambassadors are received in the receiving country in a ceremony called the ceremony of presentation of credentials and this is normally at the level of the Head of State. In fact, the protocol in the credential ceremony for receiving an Ambassador is befitting of one given to a visiting head of state or government. In most countries, the Ambassador is also given a guard of honour during the credential ceremony. In the United States, the Ambassador is received by the US President at the White House in a ceremony in which the Ambassador is also allowed to bring the members of his/her immediate family. The ceremony is held at the most powerful office in the world, namely the Oval Office.
Sending off Ambassadors are less glamorous in terms of protocol. Some governments allow Ambassadors a farewell call on the head of state or government or at some high level next to the head of government. Some governments arrange farewell dinners/luncheons for the departing Ambassadors at the level he/she is received for the farewell call. The Emperor of Japan hosts a farewell luncheon for Ambassadors who have been posted in Tokyo for three years or more. The sacrosanct element of both the credentials ceremony as well as the farewell call on the host government is that all Ambassadors are treated in the same manner without even the thought of an exception. In other words, what one Ambassador receives while presenting his credentials or while taking farewell must be provided to all other Ambassadors. There is simply no scope of differentiating in these two crucial aspects in an Ambassador's tour of duty in a receiving country.
Ambassador Dan Mozena left Bangladesh without a farewell call on the Prime Minister and has thus earned for himself the dubious distinction as being the only US Ambassador to have been subjected to such humiliation. Of course, the facts surrounding Ambassador Mozena's departure have not yet been revealed and no newspaper has carried any investigative report on this unusual diplomatic affair. Therefore, the public is in darkness over the affair that has encouraged speculations that are not good for the development of Bangladesh's diplomatic relations with the United States.
Ambassador Dan Mozena gave enough cause of annoyance and concern to the government during his tour of duty in Bangladesh. He openly indulged in matters of internal affairs of Bangladesh that is strictly forbidden under the Geneva Convention for Diplomatic Relations under which Ambassadors/diplomats work in a receiving country. In fact, by simple interpretation of the specific provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, he could have been declared a persona non grata and sent back home quite sometime ago and such an action could have been easily explained under the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
On the other hand, Ambassador Mozena has loved and respected Bangladesh like few other Ambassadors who have been posted to Dhaka. His assertion that Bangladesh would soon become the "Asian Tiger" has been a genuine expression of hope based on facts and figures. He did something rather unusual during his tenure as US Ambassador to Bangladesh. He toured important US cities and there met the expatriate Bangladeshi community to spread among them the message that Bangladesh was indeed the emerging Asian tiger and asked them to contribute towards the well-being of their home country. In spreading the news of Bangladesh as the emerging Asian tiger, he also underlined the successes of the Awami League-led government in socio-economic development of the country.
Therefore to have sent Ambassador Dan Mozena home without according him the privilege of a farewell call on the Prime Minister is not just a diplomatic faux pas of a major nature, but also, by no means, a wise move given the fact that the United States has immense powers in international politics. The government could have expressed its legitimate anger at the Ambassador in a number of diplomatic ways that were available to it. If the intention of the government was to send a message to the US Government because it continues to urge for fresh elections, then there were many options open to the government instead of this extremely unusual one. The Ministry of Froeign Affairs, after a long time under a professional diplomat who has meanwhile proven his worth, should have considered these options and suggested to the Prime Minister Office (PMO) a proper course of action. It is unfortunate that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has failed in advising the PMO professionally.
The Bangladesh Ambassador in Washington presented his credentials recently to the US Government. As is the system in USA, his credentials were received by President Obama in the White House. His wife, his son and daughter-in-law and daughter accompanied him. In grace and courtesy, President Obama received the Ambassador and his family in the Oval Office. In diplomacy, reciprocity is of the essence. The farewell to Ambassador Dan Mozena, unless details are given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to explain the way he left the country, will go down in the history of diplomacy of Bangladesh as an unpalatable chapter, the consequences that may or may not come out of this diplomatic faux pas notwithstanding.
The writer is a retired Ambassador. [email protected]
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