The European Union has announced that an expert group will arrive in Bangladesh to monitor the upcoming national parliamentary elections.
Awami League Presidium Member Lieutenant Colonel (Retd) Muhammad Faruk Khan disclosed the information on Sunday.
A four-member team of election observers of the EU will arrive in Bangladesh in November. The team will leave the country after the polls end, he said while responding to reporters after the meeting.
Earlier, the EU told the Election Commission that it decided not to send observers during Bangladesh's upcoming national elections due to "budgetary constraints”.
They announced the decision during a meeting with a delegation of ruling Awami League on Sunday.
The meeting, led by Faruk Khan, started at 11:30am and continued for an hour-and-a-half at the Gulshan residence of Charles Whiteley, the ambassador of the European Union (EU in the capital.
Ambassadors of various EU countries also participated in the meeting.
After the meeting, Faruk Khan said: "You will be happy to hear that the European Union has announced that it will send an expert group to observe the elections."
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is going on a visit to the European Union in the next few days. There will be a partnership agreement with Bangladesh. They mentioned these words at the beginning of the meeting, said the Awami League leader.
The main issue discussed at the meeting was at what capacity and vision Awami League is preparing for the next polls, he said.
“We have told them that the interim government will be formed within a few days as per our constitution. Then the Election Commission will announce the polling schedule and then we will conduct the polls accordingly,” he said.
In response to a question, Faruk Khan said: "The discussion we had today has proved that they want a fair election in Bangladesh and that is what we are also talking about."
However, Faruk Khan said that there was no discussion regarding BNP's demands.
"We have only said that BNP is a democratic and responsible political party. Hopefully, they will participate in the next elections,” he added.
In response to another question regarding the dialogue with the opposition political parties, he said: “No, there was no talk about dialogue.”
