EU mission asks about EC's capability, effectiveness of laws for fair polls

The EU Exploratory Mission on Tuesday inquired about the preparedness and capability of the Election Commission to hold a free and fair general election in Bangladesh.

It also sought to know about the effectiveness of the Representation of the People Order (RPO) and laws regarding criminal and civil rights during polls, as well as previous elections.

The six-member delegation spent the third day of its two-week visit through a busy schedule of meetings with the EC, the attorney general, the Election Monitoring Forum (EMF), and the home ministry.

It also inquired about the number of voters, voter list creation, voting centres, and CCTV installations.

A team of EC officials, led by Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal, responded to different queries from the pre-election observation delegation, which arrived in Dhaka on Sunday to survey the atmosphere ahead of the next national election, at the commission building.

After an hour-long meeting, EC Additional Secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath told journalists, "The commission has said they [EU] can send as many neutral observers as they want while also informing it that it will be helpful if they can send the application by September, citing required formalities that are carried out by the home and foreign ministries."

"The CEC has told them that some 911 elections have been conducted in the country since he took charge, and the commission is satisfied with how they turned out," he said.

"The EU delegation did not express any satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the EC's capabilities. They did not want to know whether all parties would participate in the election," Ashok added.

The meeting with the EC also followed a press briefing by the head of the EU Exploratory Mission, Riccardo Chelleri, a senior election expert.

"In the next 15 days, we will assess the pre-electoral conditions here in order to prepare an analysis for the high representative of the European Union, which will then help decide whether or not to deploy an EU election observation mission in Bangladesh," he said.

An EC official told TBS, "The delegation did not have much of a query. What they wanted to know was our election preparedness and capability. The CEC has answered their queries."

"He (CEC) said we are fully prepared and we have full capability to conduct free and fair elections," he added.

The official further said, "In addition, the CEC referred to the action plan formulated by the EC for the 12th national elections. He said that work has been done to overcome the challenges that were apprehended regarding the holding of fair elections here."

In response to another question, Ashok Kumar Debnath said the election-time government is not a matter related to the EC, and this was not discussed in the meeting.

According to Debnath, the EC will hold another meeting with the EU delegation on 18-19 July.

Meeting with attorney general

The EU team discussed electoral laws in Bangladesh during an hour-long meeting with Attorney General AM Amin Uddin at his office in the Supreme Court.

The attorney general told TBS, "The EU representatives wanted to know the effectiveness of the RPO and criminal and civil rights laws."

"We have clearly said the enforcement of all laws is always normal to protect the citizens of Bangladesh. And in order to make law and order better during elections, government officials, including the EC, take special initiatives," he added.

During the meeting, pro-BNP lawyers, led by barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon, barrister Kaiser Kamal, barrister Ruhul Quddus Kajal, and advocate Kamrul Islam Sajal, among others, staged a protest in front of the attorney general's office.

As the delegation emerged from the meeting at around 3:00pm, the lawyers held a demonstration holding placards and chanting slogans – "We want justice, no more [Prime Minister Sheikh] Hasina, we want caretaker, no more Hasina; we want a free and fair election;" and "DSA is a black law".

City polls prove EC's impartiality, efficiency: EMF

The recently held five city polls prove the EC's impartiality and efficiency, the Election Monitoring Forum told the visiting EU delegation during a meeting in the EU's Dhaka office.

"While a large political party in the country did not participate in the five city corporation polls recently, a section of former councillors and local leaders supported by that party were candidates, and many were elected," EMF Chairman Professor Abed Ali explained after the meeting.

The delegation also included EMF Advisor and former election commissioner from 2017-2022 Brig (retd) Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury. EMF Director and Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology (Duet) Vice-Chancellor Professor Habibur Rahman; Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) Pro-VC Abdul Jabbar Khan also attended the meeting.

They also told the EU delegation that the EMF had observed that the government did not interfere with or influence the five recent city polls, and the government gave full support to the EC's efforts to control law and order.

During the meeting, the EU Election Exploratory Mission asked the EMF about earlier elections from 1996 to 2018.

The EU delegation also met with home ministry officials at the Bangladesh Secretariat, but neither side spoke to journalists in this regard.

During the first two days, the delegation asked various stakeholders about the risk of violence, security, and human rights situation before and after the elections.

The delegation is scheduled to meet major political parties on July 15 July and civil society on 16 July.

The EU delegation also met with senior tax officials of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) at the Agargaon Revenue Office on Tuesday.

During the meeting, the EU mission urged officials not to impose any tax on the equipment to be imported for election purposes.

In response, the NBR officials asked the delegation to put forward the request to the Election Commission. And if the commission requests the NBR, then they will consider the matter.