Commonwealth observer team received no reports of specific attacks on minorities during election

The Commonwealth Election Observer Team has stated that they received no information regarding specific attacks or oppression targeting minority voters during the 13th National Parliamentary Election.

Former President of Ghana and Chairman of the observer team Nana Akufo-Addo shared this information at a press conference held at Hotel Intercontinental in Dhaka on Saturday, February 14.

He said the observer team received no direct reports mentioning attacks on minority communities. However, voter presence among minorities was comparatively low in some areas, and certain concerns were raised by various communities.

Nana Akufo-Addo informed that in their observation, the election was conducted peacefully, orderly and transparently. For this reason, the Commonwealth observer team considers the election acceptable and credible.

He further stated that ensuring transparency in the electoral process and the participation of all citizens is important for Bangladesh's democracy. Although a major political party of the country did not participate in the election, the processes of candidate registration, exercising voting rights and vote counting remained open in most cases. He also noted that nearly two thousand candidates contested in this election.