A US pre-election observation team will arrive in Bangladesh on October 8 to monitor the situation ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections. The team will reportedly include 3 experts from the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and 3 experts from the International Republican Institute (IRI).
They will stay in Bangladesh till October 12. At that time, they will meet with the people and institutions (stakeholders) associated with the election process, including the Election Commission. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already sent a letter to the Election Commission asking for the time of the meeting. Related sources have confirmed this information.
After a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal on August 1, US Ambassador Peter D Haas announced the arrival of the US pre-election observation team to see the environment and conditions of the election. Before that, in a note sent to Segunbagicha, Washington expressed its interest in the visit of the pre-election observation team. The US team was welcomed by the government in a return note.
The US will send a pre-election situation assessment team in October, the US envoy told reporters after sharing government notes and details of the pre-election monitoring team's tour plans with the Election Commission. In this case, national level experts who have experience in election monitoring will be sent.
According to sources, persons who have served in various positions of NDI and IRI in the US observation team are coming to Bangladesh. There are also individuals who serve at the United Nations on behalf of the United States. There is also a former parliament member of Malaysia. According to those concerned, whether or not the United States will send observers to the next election depends a lot on the report of this delegation.
Earlier, the pre-election observation team of the European Union came to Dhaka on July 9 to see the pre-election situation in Bangladesh. Incidentally, the United States and the EU did not send observers to observe the elections in 2014 and 2018.