Staff Reporter :
The European Union (EU) will deploy a 150-member observer team to Bangladesh to monitor the upcoming 13th parliamentary election.
Election Commission (EC) Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed confirmed it on Monday while speaking with the journalists following a meeting with a seven-member EU delegation at Nirbachan Bhaban in the capital.
He said that the observer team will arrive in phases following the announcement of the election schedule.
The EU delegation, led by senior election expert Riccardo Chelleri, discussed the logistics and scope of the observation mission.
The EC secretary explained that the mission will be formalised through a tripartite memorandum of understanding between the European Union, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, and the Election Commission.
Once the agreement is in place, the EU team will carry out observation activities throughout the electoral process, including the publication of the gazette.
“They asked whether they would be allowed to enter polling stations, observe the secret room of the polling officer, and stay during vote counting. They plan to be present from the time the election schedule is announced,” Akhtar said.
The delegation has already visited Rangpur and Chattogram and expressed satisfaction with the EC’s preparations.
“They will return tomorrow with clarifications of the terms. After leaving, they will send us a report along with a draft which we will review before moving toward signing,” he added.
Regarding the details of the observers, the EC secretary said, “They will send us their names along with other information. Visa and security issues for foreign observers will be addressed in phases.”
Earlier, on September 22, an eight-member EU “exploratory mission” met with EC officials to discuss the potential deployment of the observation team.
The meeting was attended by Election Commissioner Brigadier General (Retd) Abul Fazal Md. Sanaullah and EC Secretariat Joint Secretary (Election Management-2) Md. Moin Uddin Khan.
