Staff Reporter :
About 67 foreign observers from seven countries and European Union are set to monitor the upcoming Dhaka city polls to be through conducted electronic voting machines (EVMs) on February 1.
Among them, 27 are from the US, 12 from the UK, six from Switzerland, five from Japan, six from the Netherlands, two from Denmark, four from Norway and five from the European Union, said the Election Commission (EC) sources.
Most of the foreign observers have already collected their accreditations from the EC till January 28, they said.
Even more than one thousands journalists will cover the elections.
The EC has also approved a total of 1,013 local observers from 22 organizations to oversee the polls. Of them, 457 observers will be in Dhaka South City Corporation and 503 in Dhaka North City Corporation. Another 53 will centrally monitor the elections.
Local organizations those are given clearance to watch over the polls include Jatiya Nirbachon Parjobekkhon Parishad (JANIPOP), SAARC Human Rights Foundation, Forum for Development Association, Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), Institute for Environment and Development, and COAST Trust.
Earlier on January 20, US Ambassador Earl Robert Miller met with the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) to discuss the upcoming city elections.
The US will be sending members of its diplomatic corps to monitor the elections, Miller said. They will mainly focus on whether the democratic process is being observed in the polls, he added.
