THE number of foreign observers for the December 30 polls has come down significantly after the Asian Network for Free Elections cancelled its observation. ANFREL, a regional network of civil society organisations funded by the US through the National Democratic Institute, was supposed to send 32 observers to Bangladesh. With this cancellation, 146 international observers will now monitor the 11th parliamentary election, the lowest since the 2001 polls when the number was 225.
Leaders of the Election Working Group (EWG), an alliance of 22 local organisations that monitor election, said members of the combine were in confusion as to whether they will be able to monitor elections as NGO Affairs Bureau did not give “no objection certificates” to them about covering elections. EC sources say 178 observers on behalf of 16 countries and international organisations have so far shown interest in monitoring the election. Of them, 97 are foreigners; many of them stationed in Dhaka, and the rest are Bangladeshis.
The number of voters and the polling stations is much higher this time than in 2008. In the 2008 polls, there were 35,263 polling centres for 8.1 crore voters. In the December 30 election, around 40,183 polling stations will be set up for more than 10.41 crore electorates. This time, there will be around 26,000 observers and majority of them are local. The reason given by the vast majority of observers—that there is a fund crunch. We think, no amount of money can equal the ability of observers to judge a free and fair election. It is their ability to observe which would enable the citizens to know whether elections are being held in a proper manner.
Earlier, in many cases we saw that some observers had given controversial observations about the electoral process based on a few specific centres. This time, such partial observations can create an adverse impact on overall election procedures. This cannot be accepted in any way at all. We must say, the observers also should be impartial.
Leaders of the Election Working Group (EWG), an alliance of 22 local organisations that monitor election, said members of the combine were in confusion as to whether they will be able to monitor elections as NGO Affairs Bureau did not give “no objection certificates” to them about covering elections. EC sources say 178 observers on behalf of 16 countries and international organisations have so far shown interest in monitoring the election. Of them, 97 are foreigners; many of them stationed in Dhaka, and the rest are Bangladeshis.
The number of voters and the polling stations is much higher this time than in 2008. In the 2008 polls, there were 35,263 polling centres for 8.1 crore voters. In the December 30 election, around 40,183 polling stations will be set up for more than 10.41 crore electorates. This time, there will be around 26,000 observers and majority of them are local. The reason given by the vast majority of observers—that there is a fund crunch. We think, no amount of money can equal the ability of observers to judge a free and fair election. It is their ability to observe which would enable the citizens to know whether elections are being held in a proper manner.
Earlier, in many cases we saw that some observers had given controversial observations about the electoral process based on a few specific centres. This time, such partial observations can create an adverse impact on overall election procedures. This cannot be accepted in any way at all. We must say, the observers also should be impartial.
