EU delegation terms 46% voter turnout in Sylhet city polls low

The visiting European Union delegation described the 46% voter turnout in the Sylhet City Corporation election held in June as low during a meeting with the Deputy Commissioner of Sylhet on Thursday.

The meeting was held as part of the delegation's visit to Sylhet, where they met with other officials, including the regional election officer, superintendent of police, and chief executive of the city corporation, separately.

In the meetings, the delegation discussed a range of election-related issues, including the law and order situation, the right of political parties to hold meetings and voter turnout.

Deputy Commissioner of Sylhet Md Mozibor Rahman told reporters that the EU observers will be coming to monitor the upcoming parliamentary elections. In the meeting, they discussed how the observers would work and what they would be looking for.

The delegation was particularly interested in ensuring that the election is fair and impartial. They wanted to know about the law and order situation and the voting environment, he said.

The deputy commissioner said that he assured the EU delegation that the recent Sylhet City Corporation elections were peaceful and that there were no incidents of violence. He also said that the upcoming national election will be free, fair, and impartial.

However, the delegation said that a 46% turnout in the Sylhet City Corporation election was low, he said.

On Thursday morning, at 10 am, the delegation met with Mohammad Badrul Haque, the chief executive officer of the Sylhet City Corporation, at his office.

During the meeting, the EU team informed the city corporation officials that they would be sending a team of observers to Sylhet to monitor the upcoming national election.

Meanwhile, the EU team asked Sylhet SP Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun about the security situation in the city ahead of the upcoming national election.

According to sources, the delegation wanted to know whether there would be any violence or attempts to disrupt the election. Police officials assured the delegation that they would be working closely with the Election Commission to ensure a peaceful and fair election.

The delegation also asked about the freedom of movement for the EU observation team. Police officials assured the delegation that they would be able to move freely and visit voting centres without any interference, the sources said.

A pre-election EU team arrived in Bangladesh on Saturday for a two-week visit. They will be meeting with government officials, political parties, and civil society organisations to discuss their plans for monitoring the election.