European Union to Send Observers to Bangladesh Election

Senior Secretary of the Election Commission, Akhtar Ahmed, stated that the European Union is keen to send 150 observers for the upcoming national election in Bangladesh.

A tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) involving the Election Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is being planned. The EU delegation has already submitted a draft MoU, which the commission will review before proceeding with signing it.

Akhtar Ahmed explained that the observers will not all arrive at once but will come in phases following the announcement of the election schedule.

The EU team also raised questions regarding whether observers would be allowed inside polling stations and whether they could monitor the vote counting process.

Currently, a seven-member EU team, led by senior election expert Riccardo Chellery, is visiting Bangladesh from September 18 to October 7 to assess the pre-election environment ahead of the general election scheduled for early February.