‘EU decision won’t hamper credible elections’

Staff Reporter  :
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam has asserted that the European Union’s choice not to deploy a comprehensive observer mission for the upcoming general election will not affect the credibility and legitimacy of the polls.

“The European Union has not officially communicated this matter to the Foreign Ministry. Whether EU observers participate or not, it will not affect the election,” the State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Md. Shahriar Alam, stated, while speaking to reporters at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital on Thursday.

Earlier, Election Commission Secretary M. Jahangir Alam, stated that the EU would not send a full-fledged observer mission for the upcoming national parliamentary elections.

In July, a delegation of six representatives from the EU visited Bangladesh for two weeks upon an invitation from the Election Commission.

During their visit, they held a series of meetings with different stakeholders including government, election commission, political parties and civil society members to know about the election environment.

At that time EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said that the decision to send election observers would depend on the report of the pre-election observer mission.

Finally, the EU informed that they would not send a full team to observe the election.