At least half of the international organisations and countries which sent observers to monitor the 2008 general elections will not observe the national election scheduled for January 5 because of concerns about its credibility. In addition, only a handful of the local organisations which deployed about 1.6 lakh observers in the 2008 general elections have informed the Election Commission that they have an interest to oversee the polls.
In 2008, the Election Commission divided the 585 international observers who monitored the country’s elections that year into 18 organisations and country groups.
Five years later, with the United States, the European Union and the Commonwealth deciding in the last few days against sending election observers, nine of the 18 categories, which in 2008 comprised 416 our of the 585 monitors, will not observe the elections.
In addition, none of the other nine groups which in 2008 comprised 169 election observers have yet confirmed that they will monitor the elections, with one of the organisations informing New Age that it definitely will not be doing so.
The Asian Network for Free Elections, which in 2008 had sent 29 foreign observers, working alongside 50 national observers, said that they would not monitor the elections as the organisation has not had time to ‘make a preliminary assessment’ of whether ‘a minimum condition for free, fair and democratic elections existed’ in Bangladesh.
‘We [have] also learn[t] that the political conditions and security has deteriorated, and some international observation missions have declined to send their delegation,’ Ichal Supriadi, the organisation’s executive director, stated.
Most of the other groups who came in 2008 have not made up their mind.
Ryoji Tsuge, the head of Japan embassy’s information and cultural division, told New Age that the Japanese government had not made up its mind whether to send election observers. ‘Maybe we will send 4 or 5. No decision has been made yet,’ he said.
In 2008, the Japanese government sent 25 observers.
The Asia Foundation, which in 2008 sent 29 observers, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which sent 2 observers, also said that they had not yet decided.
‘We have yet to take a decision on this,’ said Saima Anwer, deputy country representative of the Asia Foundation.
Ambassador Mehdi Fatallah, the director general of the OIC’s political department, speaking to New Age from Saudi Arabia also stated, ‘OIC has not yet decided.’
Sujit Ghosh, the first secretary (political and information) at the Indian High Commission, informed New Age that he did not know whether the Indian government would send observers. In 2008, the Indian government sent 11 people.
It has not been possible to contact the Nepalese government which five years ago sent one observer and India Forum Asia which had sent two.
The UNDP, which in 2008 sent 12 election observers, had never intended to send any election observers to Bangladesh this year.
In relation to local observers, according to the statistics provided by the election commission, 75 non-governmental organisation had deployed as many as 1 lakh and 58,973 observers to oversee the 2008 general election.
Of them, 32 organisations were under the platform of the Election Working Group, which deployed a total of 1 lakh 49,830 observers in the last poll while the remaining monitor coming from 43 separate organisations.
So far however, with only two weeks to go before the polls, only 23 organisations within EWG and 11 other organisations have sought permission from the EC to be observes, said the EC’s assistant director (public relations) Arafat Ara.
The EWG, moreover, has told the media that it has yet to decide whether or not it would send observers to oversee the election.
Sharmin Morshid, the executive director of Broti, and one of the 11 non-EWG organisations which sought approval from the EC, told reporters at the EC secretariat on Tuesday that the organisation would only observe the poll to keep records how the poll was held.
She, however, expressed her worry over the security of her observers. ‘I asked the chief election commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad to ensure necessary security for the observers,’ Broti chief said after a meeting with the CEC.
-With New Age input
