Four-member EU expert team coming soon to monitor election: Foreign ministry

A four-member team of experts from the European Union will soon arrive in Bangladesh to monitor the 12th Jatiya Sangsad national elections, the foreign ministry said today.

Earlier in September, the European Union decided not to send observers during Bangladesh's upcoming national elections due to "budgetary constraints".

"A four-member European Union (EU) expert mission will come to Bangladesh in a few days to observe the elections," Seheli Sabrin, the ministry spokesperson, confirmed during a weekly briefing today (16 November).

Besides, an election assessment mission of the Commonwealth will stay in Dhaka from 18-22 November, she added.

Seheli also said according to sources of the Election Commission, a few more interested observer groups have applied for monitoring the national elections.

Earlier in October, the EU officially informed the Election Commission, following a delegation's visit in July, that it will send a four-member team to observe the upcoming national polls.

After the EU team's July visit, the block had initially informed that it would not send a full full-fledged polls-time observation team.

At the time, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam said the EU's decision will have no impact on Bangladesh's national elections.

The EU did not send any observers in the last two national elections in 2014 and 2018.

The European block had sent a full-fledged mission in the 2008 elections when it deployed the largest international observation mission in Bangladesh with 150 observers from 25 EU Member States, plus Norway and Switzerland.

India-US discussion on Bangladesh elections their own matter

The recent discussion between India and the United States regarding the upcoming Jatiya Sangsad polls of Bangladesh during a ministerial level (Two Plus Two) meeting, is a matter between those two countries,  Seheli said during the briefing.

"The 'Two Plus Two' dialogue is primarily known as a platform to discuss issues of overall bilateral interest between India and the US. In this dialogue held between India and the United States, political, economic, and security related issues were discussed in detail," said Seheli Sabrin.

"It is natural that various aspects of broader global, regional and sub-regional security and geopolitical stability will come up in those discussions. Whether it will come as an agenda or not is a matter of these two countries," she added.

Replying to a query on the arrival of Russian warships at Chittagong Port, the foreign ministry spokesperson said, "Three ships of the Pacific Fleet Squadron of the Russian Navy arrived. Of those, two are anti-submarine ships and another is a medium sea-tanker. They stayed at the Chittagong Port on a goodwill visit on November 12-14.

"During this time, the Russian delegation that came with the three ships visited the port and various infrastructures of the Bangladesh Navy. The three ships have already completed their goodwill visit and left the port for their next destination. And there were no restrictions on these ships," she said.

EC guidelines for international election observers

The Election Commission in September published guidelines for international observers, stipulating that individuals or organisations serving as observers should have a working experience of good governance, elections, democracy, peace building and human rights.

According to the guidelines, the applicant organisation should produce evidence of registration with the relevant authority of its own country.

It also stated that the applicant, individual or organisation shall comply with the election laws of Bangladesh.

According to the guideline, the Election Commission will not entertain applications for observer accreditation from individuals with prior convictions related to electoral offences, fraud, or dishonesty.

International election observers are required to submit their election observation reports within 30 days from the polling day to the secretary of the EC Secretariat. 

The reports should be prepared based on pre-poll, poll-day and post-poll observations, according to the Election Commission's policy.