The European Union (EU) Parliament will not send any observer for the upcoming 11th general election, as they believe that Bangladesh is well prepared to handle it on its own.
The visiting European Parliamentary delegation on Sunday said the Bangladesh government is capable of holding the next general election in a free and fair way, reports BSS.
Rupert Matthews, conservative member of the European Parliament, at a press briefing at a city hotel said: “Things I have heard, talking to political leaders of the country, make me confident enough to say the coming election in Bangladesh will be free and fair.”
Matthews ruled out some speculation that the EU is not sending observers as it didn’t allocate a budget for that.
“If the European parliament wanted to send observers, they would allocate the budget to do so,” he added.
He said the EU parliament believes that Bangladesh is capable of following its own rules to conduct a free and fair election and “therefore we don’t need to send observers.”
Referring to the officials of the European Parliament and EU, who have experience in observing polls around the globe, Matthews said: “As per their (EU officials) opinion, Bangladesh runs a free and fair system regarding the polls.”
He said his team has talked to a wide range of people of Bangladesh, including government officials, politicians, and common people, and they have finally come to this conclusion.
Matthews further said: “We are here to observe the situation of Bangladesh in different sectors including elections, trade, investment, social, women empowerment, and minorities.”
Joao Pedro Guimaraes Goncalves, member of the Portuguese Parliament, said his country and Bangladesh are democratic countries but they had some wrong ideas about Bangladesh.
He said: “This visit has removed the wrong ideas about Bangladesh. We have found that the country is really amazing.”
He laid emphasis on taking initiatives to show the world the “real Bangladesh” as it is a good example of industry.
“Bangladesh is such a wonderful country that really respects human rights and workers, and its industries are up to the mark by global standards,” Goncalves said.
The delegation also included Fluvio Martusciello, member of the EU parliament from Italy, Alberto Cirio, member of the EU parliament from Italy, Sandra Cristina De Sequeiros Pereira, member of the Portuguese Parliament, and Madi Sharma, member of the European Economic and Social Committee, UK.
They said Bangladesh became a role model for its neighbouring countries in the field of socio-economic development.
Bangladesh has really taught the world how a most populous country can move ahead in a short period sticking to democratic values, they added.
