US team in Dhaka to assess election environment
Staff Reporter :
Amid the heightening political landscape, a seven-member US pre-election observer team arrived in Dhaka on Saturday evening for assessing the environment prior to the parliamentary election.
The high-profile Pre-Election Assessment Mission (PEAM) will stay in Bangladesh till October 13.
During its stay in Dhaka, the PEAM delegation will meet with a diverse range of stakeholders including Foreign Ministry, Home Ministry, Election Commission, political party leaders, civil society organisations, as well as media.
Following the conclusion of its visit, the PEAM will provide its key findings and practical recommendations ahead of the elections.
This is not the first mission for pre-election assessment, rather a similar team from the European Union visited Bangladesh in July 8-23.
But after their assessment report, the EU declined to send their observers stating that they found concerns from the field report over sending observers during the election.
Now it is time to see what this US mission finds in their assessment after obtaining field level reports through interactions with different parties.
Meanwhile, the government side on many occasions has been stating that the presence or absence of foreign observers will not have any impact on the election.
The government said that they are committed to holding a free and fair election and they are in power by mandate of the people.
They further said that any foreign interference in the election is not acceptable as the government is enough to hold free and fair elections.
Even Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Gonobhaban on Friday said that nobody needs to teach her about free and fair election.
Currently the government and the oppositions are at loggerheads as both sides don’t want to budge an inch from their stance.
The ruling party wants to hold polls under the current constitutional framework while the BNP said that the election has to be held under a caretaker government.
The BNP said that election cannot be free and fair under the incumbent government as they give examples of the past two parliamentary elections.
Under current situation, holding a free and fair parliamentary election has become a crucial issue for the Election Commission amid the political standoff.
Meanwhile, the US government has been pushing for holding a free and fair election whenever they meet with the Bangladesh government including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and even in their regular press briefing in Washington DC.
In order to facilitate the government and the people’s willingness to hold a free, fair, inclusive and credible election, the US has imposed visa restrictions on the Bangladeshi individuals whoever will be involved in undermining the elections.
