Visiting foreign observers term ‘free, fair and safe’
City Desk :
Visiting international observers today described the just-held 12th National Parliamentary Election in Bangladesh as “free, fair and safe.”
“Considering the overall situation, all the observers present here agree that the 12th National Parliamentary Election of Bangladesh was held peacefully and with the participation of the common people.
It was free, fair and very safe,” observer Terry L Easley said at a media briefing at Jatiya Press Club, reports UNB.
The observer from the US said there was no intimidation of voters by the candidates or parties participating in the election.
“This bode well for democracy and voting rights.”
“We have heard of some isolated incidents. Like clashes among the supporters of the government’s candidates, independent candidates and other parties which is unexpected.
But if we review the overall election situation, those incidents are very insignificant,” Easley said.
“What we have seen is that the voting process of Bangladesh is similar to many countries in the world,” said the leader of international observers team.
They said if all the political parties participated in the elections, the atmosphere would have been more beautiful and joyful.
Talking to the voters in all the centers they observed, they found that they did not face anyobstacles on their way to vote.
They congratulated the Election Commission for conducting the election successfully and efficiently.
Jim Bates, former US congressman and an election observer, also spoke, among others.
The international observers appreciated participation of women voters.
They hoped to make their full report public within two weeks to one month.
“I found (it to be a) very peaceful, free and fair election,” Jim Bates told reporters at a separate media briefing Sunday evening.
“I’d like to say it’s a free and fair election already,” he added.
“The thing they keep talking about is low turnout: that’s a misnomer. In some countries, voting goes on till 5/6 pm or even months,” Bates said.
He said Bangladesh has the shortest voting time in the world.
“So when they say ‘low turnout,’ that’s something to manoeuvre the press,” Bates said.
Bates is a former politician who served as a Democratic elected official from San Diego, California. He served four terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 1991.
Chandra Arya , Member of Parliament, Canada and Victor Oh, Senator, Canada also briefed the media separately.
The independent election observers from Canada said, “Today the citizens of Bangladesh have exercised their fundamental and valuable right to vote and chose their representatives.
