A total of 199 domestic agencies, including mostly local level organizations, have applied to the Election Commission (EC) for election monitoring.
Assistant Director of Public Relations of the Election Commission Md Asadul Haque confirmed the information on Wednesday.
Currently, 118 organizations are registered as observers with the EC. Their term will expire on July 11. Hence, application for fresh registration was invited by EC.
Md Asadul Haque said that 199 domestic companies applied within the stipulated time. After the stipulated time, 11 organizations applied. However, their applications were not considered. Again, 40 organizations are registered among the new applicants. The remaining 159 organizations are new. Most of these are local level organizations.
The EC officials said a seven-member committee has been constituted to scrutinize the applications. However, the process is moving slowly for the parliamentary seat hearings and the five city elections.
After the initial selection, the list of organizations will be advertised in newspapers. In this case, if anyone has any objection, it will be settled by hearing. EC will take final decision following 10 working days after notification if no objection is received, they added.
Most of the organizations currently registered do not observe elections. Earlier, only 61 organizations monitored the 11th National Assembly elections. As a result, the EC has taken a policy decision not to register those who do not observe the election even with registration.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission allows domestic organizations as well as foreign organizations to monitor the elections. Foreign organizations apply through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before the vote. Although no foreign organization has applied yet, the European Union has already met three times with the CEC to send observers.