AL assures Commonwealth observers of fair elections on 7 January

  The ruling Awami League has assured election observers from the Commonwealth that the country's upcoming parliamentary polls, scheduled for 7 January, will be conducted in a free, fair and credible manner.

The assurance came from party leaders during their meeting with a 10-member delegation of Commonwealth election observers at Hotel Sonargaon in Dhaka on Friday.

At the meeting, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader led his party's side, while the former Prime Minister of Jamaica, Orette Bruce Golding, headed the Commonwealth representatives team.

A source at the meeting told The Business Standard that during the meeting, the Commonwealth delegation asked what steps the government has taken to make the 7 January elections participatory and credible. 

In response, the Awami League General Secretary shared the details relating to the voting with the Commonwealth observers.

Quader told them that the inclusion of voters' photos in the voter list, and the use of transparent ballot boxes have been introduced in the country on the basis of the demands of the Awami League, said the source.

The Awami League general secretary further acquainted the observers with steps such as those taken to prevent the use of muscle power and money at elections, disclosing the wealth statements of candidates, barring people in government service from contesting in elections immediately after their retirement, and appointing presiding and polling officers from among government employees.

Quader added that a range of reforms have been implemented to tackle any possible means of an election being tainted by corruption.

Mentioning that the Awami League government has enacted a law and formed an impartial Election Commission, he said, "Most of the parties in the country [28 parties] are participating in the election. There are around 1,970 candidates [ contesting in the election]. Candidates are campaigning smoothly, and the Election Commission is carrying out its responsibilities properly."

He added that the laws related to elections have been reformed step by step in order to create a healthy environment for fair and impartial elections in the country, the source added.

For its part, the Commonwealth mission declined to speak to the media after the meeting. 

Yesterday, a six-member team of Commonwealth observers held a meeting with the Election Commission at Nirbachan Bhaban in the capital's Agargaon. Election Commissioner Brig Gen (Retd) Ahsan Habib Khan led the commission's side at the meeting.

After the meeting, EC Additional Secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath told the media that the Commonwealth observers have expressed their satisfaction with the arrangements made by the Election Commission regarding voting in the 7 January national elections. 

"The Commonwealth representatives asked about the voting process and challenges in the election. They asked if there were any challenges to voter participation," he said.

"We have said that an adequate number of law enforcement personnel are on the ground so that voters can cast votes peacefully and without any fear. The members of the Commonwealth team have been assured by this," Ashok Kumar Debnath added.

Responding to a question from journalists, he said that the anti-election programmes and hartal called by the BNP were not discussed during the meeting with the Commonwealth team.

On Friday, the Election Commission also sat with election observers from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). 

After the meeting, EC Additional Secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath told the media that the discussion with the OIC team was similar to the meeting with the Commonwealth observers.   

Responding to the media after the meeting, Shakir Mahmood Bandar, head of the OIC delegation, said, "We would like to thank the Bangladesh electoral commission and the government of Bangladesh for inviting the OIC to observe this election."

"We would like to reiterate and congratulate Bangladesh for its active role in the OIC, and we are here as an electoral foreign observer team to help and support the Bangladeshi people in this election, and we wish for a transparent, free and fair election," he added