After the European Union, now the Commonwealth says it would not send officials to observe the 10th parliamentary elections slated for January 5.
Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma yesterday sent a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad in this regard, EC sources said.
Seeking anonymity, an official told the Dhaka Tribune that the EC had received a letter of the commonwealth where the organisation said there was no proper environment for holding an election and that all parties were not contesting the polls.
On December 20, the EU said it decided not to deploy its Election Observation Mission (EOM) for the polls.
Asked, EC Secretary Muhammed Sadique said he did not know about the Commonwealth’s decision.
On December 4, a three-member delegation led by Commonwealth’s Head of Democracy Section Martin Kasirye met with the CEC on invitation. After an hour-long meeting, Martin later said they would send a report to the headquarters after discussions with political parties, representatives of civil society and diplomats.