The Election Commission (EC) has expressed hope that the European Union (EU) will send an observation team to monitor the 12th national parliamentary election, even if it is a small one.
Chief Election Commission (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal responded to the EU's letter to send observers to the election expressing such hope.
Election Commissioner Brigadier Md Ahsan Habib Khan gave this information to reporters while talking to journalists at his office in Agargaon’s Nirbachan Bhaban on Sunday.
He said: "The European Union has already informed the secretariat about why they are not sending observers to the 12th national parliamentary elections. They mentioned in their letter about budget shortage. But the EU did not say that they would not send observers. The letter said that they would not send a full-fledged team. It has not been mentioned whether it will be sent in a smaller size or not.”
The EC Ahsan Habib said that the commission did not say that they will not send observers on a small scale. “We can expect that the more observers monitor the election process, whether observers or journalists, the more transparent it will be.”
“We will always have hope. The more domestic and international observers will be here, this will be better for us. The more the election is monitored, the more the pressure will be on us. We will have the perception—everyone is watching us. The election will be fair.”
Regarding the reply to the letter given to the European Union, the commissioner said: "CEC has replied to the letter of the EU.
“In the letter, it has been said that with the support we are getting from the government and everyone, we will be able to present a free, impartial and acceptable election.”
Earlier, EC Secretary Md Jahangir Alam on Thursday said the EU will not send a full-fledged election observation team to Bangladesh during its 12th parliamentary national election due to lack of financial allocation.
A six-member election exploratory mission of the European Union (EU) visited Bangladesh from July 8 to 23 at the invitation of the Election Commission (EC).
The delegation mainly assessed the scope, planning, budget, logistics and security aspects of the election observation mission.
