EU election observer team due in Dhaka soon

Staff Reporter  :
A four-member European Union team will arrive in Dhaka soon to observe the upcoming 12th parliamentary election scheduled to be held on January 7.

“A four-member EU election observer will arrive in Dhaka within a couple of days,” Seheli Sabrin, Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson said in the weekly media briefing on Thursday.

In addition, she said that the Commonwealth would send a pre-election assessment mission from November 18 to 22.

The spokesperson further said that the ministry does not have any list of interested persons or organisations that want to observe the election.
“We heard that the Election Commission has got some requests for it,” she said.

Responding to a question, she said the government did not seek any assistance or support from any country or organisations related to general elections.

Officials at the Election Commission said the EU observers are likely to reach Bangladesh on November 21 and would stay here for two months to observe the poll.

Earlier, following a pre-election observation mission’s report, the EU wrote to the Election Commission saying that it would not observe the Bangladesh election due to their fund constraints.

However, later they moved away from the decision and said that they would send four observers in the upcoming parliamentary election.