POBNEWS24, Dhaka, Dec 26, 2023 : The United States wants to deeply evaluate the environment of the upcoming national election in Bangladesh. For that purpose, the country’s two election monitoring institutions are currently in Bangladesh.
Election analysts say the US, like other observers, cannot be held accountable by just looking at the polls at the centre. A small ‘Joint Technical Assessment Team’ has been sent to assess further violence and irregularities ahead of the January 7 polls.
They think that the past two national elections of Bangladesh have created many controversies in the country and abroad. For this reason, the United States is giving so much importance to the overall environment of the elections to advance the democratic system of Bangladesh in the future.
The Election Commission says that the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) of the United States will monitor everything in the upcoming elections. For this they have been given accreditation.
Election Commission Additional Secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath told UNI, “The Ministry of External Affairs has vetted all the information of 12 people. We have allowed them to observe the vote”.
These two institutions will monitor all aspects of Bangladesh elections. Not only political violence, but all the observations before the election will be in their report, said Mr. Debnath.
This is what IRI says in the notification
A five-member delegation of IRI and NDI has arrived in Bangladesh to observe the 12th National Assembly elections of Bangladesh, the IRI of the United States announced on its website on Saturday.
This delegation will stay in Bangladesh for six to eight weeks. During his stay, he will monitor and assess the pre-election, election-time and post-election violence situations.
Wherein it is further stated, this monitoring team will conduct the thematic analysis of various types of electoral violence. These include violence due to internal conflicts, inter-party violence, violence against women and other marginalized groups, online harassment and threats.
Besides, the notification also informed that the technical team will give a report with constructive recommendations to reduce violence in future elections.
Earlier, a pre-election observation mission of NDI and IRE visited Bangladesh for four days from October 8.
Election analyst. Abdul Alim told UNI, “When a foreign observer team comes to observe the polls, they send a big team. They monitor all polling images across the country on election day.”
But this group of the United States is not only coming to see the image of the voting day, Mr. Alim.
What is the cause of interest in the United States?
Even before the 2014 and 2018 parliamentary elections in Bangladesh, the United States had urged for fair and participatory elections.
However, even though these two elections raised many questions, the country did not show much activity after the elections. However, the position of the United States on the Bangladesh issue became clear in December 2021. At that time, Washington imposed a visa ban on the RAB and six officials of Bangladesh for human rights violations.
After such actions of the United States, the cases of extrajudicial killings and disappearances in Bangladesh have decreased a lot.
In May this year, the United States announced a new visa policy for Bangladesh, keeping in mind the upcoming elections.
Where it is said, the United States has decided to impose a visa ban on those responsible for obstructing the democratic election process in Bangladesh.
Election analyst. Badiul Alam Majumder tells UNI, “There was an opportunity to advance the democratic system in Bangladesh through a fair and competitive election. Maybe it’s not confirmed. That is why the United States is giving special importance to it”.
Who else is coming to watch the vote as a foreign observer?
Several countries, organizations and international media have already applied to observe the twelfth national election of Bangladesh. Out of which 156 applied as observers.
On the other hand, the Election Commission of Bangladesh has invited 114 people from four organizations and 34 countries’ election commissions to observe the vote.
Earlier, four months before the elections, the European Union’s pre-election observation team met with the Election Commission, but they ultimately announced that they would not observe.
Like the US, they will send a small technical team to monitor the vote.
Apart from this, small teams are expected to come from some countries to observe this vote in Bangladesh.
According to the Election Commission, Thailand, Nepal, India, Britain, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Dutch, Iraq, Palestine, Georgia, Uganda, Norway, Bulgaria, Congo have requested to observe the polls on January 7.
Election Commission Additional Secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath told UNI, “We allow those who are vetted by the Ministry of External Affairs as observers. They can observe by following the guidelines that the foreign observers have.
Where other observers differ from the United States
Although delegations from several countries of the world have come to observe the January 7th election, they will only observe the polling on the day of the election.
However, the US NDI and IRI institutions will stay in Bangladesh for six to eight weeks.
Election observer and analyst. Abdul Alim told UNI, “The US NDI and IRI will monitor the pre-election, polling day and post-election period. If they had only come to observe the election, they would have sent a huge team.”
Mr. Alim says they will give a report to the US government after looking at the general atmosphere of the polls. They will not observe the polls, but basically evaluate the polls, he added.
EC Additional Secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath told UNI, “They will submit a report after monitoring. And they might even reveal it before they go.” The Election Commission sees this observation as positive, said Mr. Debnath.
Election analysts say that when there is no fair election environment, i.e. there is no participation of all parties, the votes are questionable by international standards; Instead of sending observers there, these two US agencies sent technical teams.
