EU for free, fair and participatory polls: Charles Whiteley

EU Ambassador to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley on Wednesday once again underscored the need for free, fair and participatory polls, saying the European Union was very interested in sending polls observers to Bangladesh during the next general election.

After a visit to the Election Commission (EC) building, Whiteley said  he was very heartened by the positive comments by the EC on welcoming foreign observers.

During the discussion with the Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal and other EC members, issues of electoral procedure, technical and operational issues and the matter of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) was also brought up.

The 11-member EU delegation led by Whiteley had a wide ranging exchange of views with the CEC and his team on Bangladesh's preparations for the parliamentary elections, including electoral observation.

CEC Awal said, "There was an exchange of views with them about the election. As the election year nears, they have come to exchange views again. They came to know how our election preparations were going.

"When asked about what they [EU] specifically want to know about the election, they said they wanted to know about the electoral role," he said, adding that he had cleared his stance on redefining the limits of parliamentary seats and making the election participatory.

"I said we were ready," he said.

Awal said they were prepared according to the roadmap and would hold the election within the stipulated time.

"We have also made it clear to them that there are still some points of disagreement between the political parties. Due to these differences, the electoral environment is still not congenial.

"In a broad sense there is a need for reconciliation between political parties, so that the elections are conducted in a fair environment. We have been making this request since the beginning and are still making it. The political issues, which may hinder the elections, have to be addressed by the political leaders."

On the election observers, he said, "It has been done in the past and this time we will be fully open from our side. There will be no hindrance from us. We have a policy on foreign observers. They will appeal to us. We will send it to the home ministry and our foreign ministry. Because the matter must be addressed bilaterally."

The eleven-member delegation included EU Deputy Head of Mission Bernd Spanier, Danish Ambassador Winnie Estrup Petersen, Swedish Ambassador Alexandra Berg Von, German Ambassador Achim Tröster, Netherlands Ambassador Anne Gerard van Leeuwen, France Deputy Head of Mission Gillaume Audren de Kerdrel, Italy Deputy Head of Mission Mattia Ventura, Spain Charge d' Affaires Ignacio Siles Fernández-Palacios, Switzerland Ambassador Nathalie Chuard and Norway Ambassador Espen Rikter-Svendsen.
The general election is likely to be held in the first week of January next year.   
 
CEC unsure about EVM use in national polls

Uncertainty over the availability of the number of electronic voting machines (EVMs) needed for the national polls has made the Election Commission unsure whether the machines will be used.

Following a meeting with a delegation of the European Union, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal told reporters, "The delegation asked whether there is any distrust in the EVM. I said any confusion had gone away. But I also informed them that I am still not completely sure about [the use of] EVMs, as we are not yet sure if the required number of EVMs will be available."

He said they had yet to come to any definitive decision about how many polling centres will use EVMs for voting.

Earlier, the EC had decided to use EVMs at 150 constituencies out of 300 in the next general election.

It also decided to procure 200,000 new EVMs at the cost of about Tk9,000 crore. The project is yet to be approved by the government.