The Election Commission (EC) has invited representatives from 38 countries and organizations to observe the upcoming 12th national polls in Bangladesh.
EC Additional Secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath said that formal invitations have been extended to all countries and organizations that expressed their interest in election monitoring following the announcement of the election schedule.
The countries are India, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Australia, Canada, France, Georgia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Russia, South Korea, Egypt, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, Senegal, Thailand, Azerbaijan , Malaysia, Mauritius, Tunisia, Brunei, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, China, Japan and Singapore.
The general election is scheduled to take place on Jan 7, 2024.
Apart from this, SAARC and OIC secretary general, Fombosa and A-Web chairpersons have also been invited.
In addition, the secretaries general of the SAARC and OIC, along with the heads of FEMBoSA and A-WEB, have also been invited.
The EC will bear the expenses of the invited observers. However, the EC will not cover the cost of foreign observers and journalists. Those interested will have to travel at their own expense.
Meanwhile, it is said that 44 observers and journalists from 12 countries and organizations have requested to observe the vote. The application deadline in this regard is December 7.
Of them, 11 persons from Uganda want to come from the African Electoral Alliance, four from the European Union, 12 from Agence France Presse (AFP), one from Abu Dhabi, two from India's NDTV, four from the South Asian Development Forum, one from the British High Commission, three from the International Parliamentary Congress, one from Swedish Radio, one from Japan, two from Germany (one journalist), one from Italy and one from the Australian Embassy.
According to the election schedule announced on November 15, the deadline for nomination submission is November 30, while the deadline for a candidate to withdraw is December 17. The commission will scrutinize the nomination papers from December 1 to December 4.
