Following the European Union’s (EU’s) suit, the United States and the Commonwealth have also decided not to send observers to monitor the Jan 5 Bangladesh elections.
US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki announced the US decision in a press statement issued in Washington on Sunday. UNB adds:Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma in a letter to the Election Commission (EC) on Sunday conveyed the message, said an EC official.
According to the official, the Commonwealth informed the EC that they are not sending observers to monitor the national polls as most political parties are not joining it. Earlier on Friday,
the EU decided to halt the preparations for the deployment of an Election Observation Mission in Bangladesh. The Commonwealth usually refrains from sending its observers to any country to monitor elections if the EU does so.
-With UNB/The Independent input
