EU delegation
Diplomatic Correspondent/

During the 16-day visit to Bangladesh, the pre-election observation delegation of the European Union held as many as 70 meetings at the government and private levels.

The activity of western countries has increased around the next national parliament election of Bangladesh. As a part of this, the pre-election observation delegation of the European Union left Dhaka yesterday after checking the possibility of sending a full-fledged mission to observe this election. During the 16-day visit to Bangladesh, the six-member delegation tried to find answers to several questions to find out what are the challenges in holding free and fair elections in Bangladesh. The members of the delegation held as many as 70 meetings at the government and private levels. These questions included fundamental issues such as enabling environment for fair elections, participation of all parties in elections, institutional capacity to conduct elections and election process, election violence and media freedom.

According to the sources of the European Union (EU) embassy in Dhaka, the six-member team led by Ricardo Shelleri has only held two rounds of meetings with the Election Commission. Apart from this, besides several ministers and secretaries of the government, political parties, foreign missions, civil society, minority communities, law and order forces and other election-related stakeholders have exchanged views.

The EU’s pre-election delegation came mainly to see the latest situation first hand. For this, they are looking for answers to some basic questions at various levels. In particular, they were sent from Brussels to Dhaka to make recommendations on how meaningful it would be for a full-fledged mission to come and observe elections in Bangladesh. As a result, in addition to finding answers to some basic questions surrounding the election, they also talked about how the full-fledged mission will work, where their official work will be conducted, whether they can go to Chittagong Hill Tracts if necessary, whether they will get the necessary assistance from the government or not. During the tour of Bangladesh, the delegation went to Sylhet for a day to learn about the situation outside Dhaka.

When it comes to holding free and fair elections, naturally the first question that arises is whether all parties will participate in the elections or not. The delegation held meetings with leaders of Awami League and BNP as well as some political parties including Jatiya Party, Jamaat-e-Islami. The EU delegation came to know that the two main political parties Awami League and BNP are at opposite poles regarding the election process. Because, according to the constitution, Awami League is determined to hold elections under the government led by Sheikh Hasina. On the other hand, BNP has clearly said that the elections will not be fair under this government, so BNP will not participate in the elections unless under a non-partisan government.

The EU delegation raised the question of where is the solution to such opposite positions of the two main political parties. Several civil society representatives who were present during the discussion with them told this reporter yesterday that this question was asked to them. They said that to move forward in the process of holding elections peacefully, a solution should be found through discussion. There is no alternative.

Members of the EU delegation held two rounds of meetings with the Election Commission during the visit. At that time, they wanted to know about the election system, violence during the election, the capacity of the Election Commission, voter list etc. At the same time, in a meeting with the Election Observers Council of Bangladesh, they sought the answer on how to make the election inclusive.

Charles Whiteley, the EU ambassador in Dhaka, told the media that the EU’s senior representative, Josep Borrell, had announced his readiness to send observers to the upcoming elections in Bangladesh. As part of this, the pre-election observation team has visited Dhaka. They will assess the situation and submit their views to EU High Representative Josep Borrell. Based on that assessment, Borel will take the final decision on whether to send an EU mission to Bangladesh for election observation.