EU plans to send 150 observers for Bangladesh election

The European Union (EU) intends to deploy 150 observers for the upcoming 13th national parliamentary election through a tripartite agreement with the ministry of foreign affairs and the election commission (EC).

EC senior secretary Akhtar Ahmed disclosed the information on Monday after a meeting with EU pre-election experts at the EC headquarters in Agargaon, Dhaka.

An eight-member EU delegation led by senior election expert Riccardo Celleri had earlier met the EC on September 22. Later, the team also held a separate meeting with election commissioner Brigadier General (Retd.) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah.

“The observers will not arrive all at once. They will come in phases after the announcement of the schedule. They wanted to know whether they can enter polling centres, observe secret rooms, and remain present during vote counting,” said the EC.

Akhtar Ahmed further noted that the EU wants to send observers from the time of schedule announcement until the end of the polls. “They will not arrive simultaneously as a group of 150,” he clarified.

He added that the EU team also enquired about how election results are published and whether the information is available on the EC website.