A high-powered delegation of the European Union (EU) will arrive in Dhaka any moment to assess the challenges to holding the 10th parliamentary election, and to inspect the pre-election environment and Election Commission’s (EC) measures to implement the electoral codes. “A pre-assessment team will arrive in Dhaka to examine the election environment. Although the chief of the EU logistic team is already in Dhaka, 5-6 more members are waiting for visa. We hope they will join the team at any moment,” an EC official said.
According to sources at Election Commission and the foreign ministry, the EU signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the foreign ministry last week in this regard.
“The EU team will assess the real situation here. It will assess whether a ‘level playing field’ is in place for the political parties, and examine the challenges to the polls that the EC is going to face during the election time. The most crucial component is to examine the security in Bangladesh; whether the country is ‘safe’ for the voters and foreign observers here,” a senior EC official told The Independent.
He said the EU team will submit an assessment report to their highest body which will frame the future guideline for the foreign observers.
The team will also sit with the Election Commission (EC), political parties, media people, and its stakeholders to examine the present policy-guideline for observing the upcoming parliamentary polls.
“They (EU) are our development partner and we are in the process to complete some election-based projects worth 10-million Euro funded by the EU. So, technically they have the right to know the status of the on going projects and the electoral process,” EC secretary Dr. Muhammad Sadik said.
The EC has already issued guidelines for both foreign and domestic election observers under the authority of section 91(C) of the Representation of Peoples Order (RPO).
A total of 1, 77, 107 local and foreign observers monitored the 9th parliamentary election held on December 29, 2008.
-With The Independent input
