Anisul Islam Noor :
The international community will closely observe the City Corporations’ elections in Dhaka and Chittagong through their internal mechanisms in the interest of transparent and inclusive elections.
A number of countries and the United Nations have been urging all sides to ensure free and fair elections without any violence.
“Fair, free and credible elections are the preconditions of democracy. We hope, today’s (Tuesday) election is an example of that spirit,” US Ambassador in Dhaka Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat tweeted on
Monday. The election to three City Corporations in Dhaka and Chittagong will be held today. “The United Nations urges all concerned to ensure a transparent, peaceful, and inclusive election process,” UN Resident Coordinator in Dhaka Robert Watkins said in a pre-election statement. He welcomed the largely peaceful environment in Dhaka and Chittagong on the eve of the City Corporation election and encouraged voters to exercise their right to vote in this important democratic process in the country.
Earlier, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon renewed his appeal for transparent, inclusive and credible election, in Bangladesh.
He said transparent, inclusive and credible election is only possible in a secure and safe environment for campaigning.
The European Union (EU) has also urged the political leaders to create favourable conditions for peaceful, inclusive, transparent and credible election. The EU also said voters must be given the opportunity to express freely their democratic choice. Another diplomatic source said the diplomats are very much interested about the polls and they will observe it through TV and other forms of media and internal mechanism.
