The visiting Election Exploratory Mission from the European Union held a series of meetings on Monday with officials from different ministries, the National Human Rights Commission, and the police in a move to assess the environment leading to the next general election to be held in December this year or in January 2024.
Led by Chelleri Riccardo, the six-member EU delegation had a meeting with National Human Rights Commission chairman Kamal Uddin Ahmed at his office in the morning, and later in the afternoon they met with the police officials to know about the security plan for the election observers, according to officials.
The delegation wanted to know whether there was any risk of violence during the election in Bangladesh, Kamal Uddin told reporters after the meeting.
The EU team also held talks with a ruling Awami League delegation, led by AL foreign affairs sub-committee chairman and former ambassador Muhammad Zamir, at the residence of the EU ambassador in the city.
Meanwhile, EU ambassador and head of delegation Charles Whiteley held a meeting with the ruling Awami League general secretary and also the road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader at his office in the secretariat.
‘We very much encourage peaceful, free, fair, and participatory elections in Bangladesh,’ Whiteley told reporters after his meeting with Quader.
Quader was informed that the Election Exploratory Mission would be holding meetings with all, including political parties, civil society groups, and security forces, United News of Bangladesh reported.
‘You know they are here to decide and recommend whether the EU should deploy a full election observation mission. So, it is a good opportunity to speak with the minister about this and the EU’s support,’ the news agency quoted Whiteley as saying.
He said that they had open discussions on relevant issues.
Obaidul Quader said that he had told the EU delegates that the government would always welcome them if they wanted to send their election observers.
Responding to a reporter’s question, Quader said that it was up to the visiting EU Election Exploratory Mission whether they would request the BNP or any other political party to participate in the election.
The EU mission would hold another meeting with the AL delegates, led by Obaidul Quader, on July 15, Muhammad Zamir told New Age.
Earlier in the morning, the EU Election Exploratory Mission had a meeting with senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Inspector General of Missions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Asad Alam Siam, was present among others at the meeting, according to the UNB report.
The EU delegation held a one-and-a-half-hour meeting at PHQ with the additional inspector general of police (admin) Md Kamrul Ahasan.
The meeting was earlier scheduled with the inspector general of police, Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, but finally, additional IGP Kamrul led the meeting on behalf of the IGP, said officials at the police headquarters.
Senior police officials were also present at the meeting.
PHQ spokesperson and assistant inspector general (media) Md Manzur Hossain, said that the discussion was not about the election, but the delegation wanted to know what security measures would be taken by the police if their election observation team came to Bangladesh during the national polls.
They discussed and raised security issues with the election monitoring teams, said the official.
A six-member EU delegation led by Chelleri Riccardo began their activities in Dhaka on Sunday.
On the first day of their 16-day visit at the invitation of the Election Commission, the EU held internal meetings at the office of the European Union in the city, joined by several foreign diplomats, according to officials concerned.
The EU office in Dhaka, however, did not share any information about its election exploratory mission in the city.
The EU mission is supposed to hold meetings with the Election Commission, politicians, civil society members, journalists, and government officials during this time to determine whether the European Union should send observers during the upcoming national polls here, the officials said.
Foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen told reporters at the ministry on Thursday that the election exploratory mission coming from the European Union would determine whether they would send election observers during the next general election in Bangladesh or not.
Moreover, the United States under-secretary for civilian security, democracy, and human rights and US special coordinator for Tibetan issues, Uzra Zeya, is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka today on a four-day visit.
In Bangladesh, she would meet senior officials to discuss shared humanitarian concerns, including the Rohingya crisis, labour issues, human rights, free and fair elections, and trafficking in persons, according to a statement from the US State Department.
