Bangladesh disheartened at US polls remark

Bangladesh disheartened at US polls remark

Dhaka, Dec 23 (Just News): Bangladesh is disheartened to see a US press statement that expressed disappointment over “Bangladesh government's inability” to grant credentials and issue visas to foreign election monitors from the ANFREL.

The foreign ministry of Bangladesh today said this in a statement, a day after US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino issued the statement saying, "The ANFREL was forced to cancel its observation mission for the December 30 national election."

“While Bangladesh welcomes international election observers to observe the election, it certainly has the responsibility to ensure that the applicants meet all required criterion as per applicable laws and guidelines of the Election Commission,” the foreign ministry said in the statement.

It said, “As of now, 175 foreign election observers from different countries and organizations have been accredited to undertake election monitoring missions in Bangladesh. Accreditation of international election observers from a number of organizations including ANFREL is currently under process. In addition, the Election Commission has registered 118 local organizations and also approved 25,920 local observers to monitor the polls.”

“In this context, the decision of ANFREL to cancel its observation mission is entirely their own despite the fact that, nearly half of its applicants have already been approved and the rest is under process,” the statement reads.

It is reiterated that Bangladesh would continue to grant credentials to eligible international and local election observers to observe the 11th National Parliamentary Elections to be held on 30 December 2018, it also said.

In a statement yesterday, US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino said the US is disappointed by the “Bangladesh government's inability to grant credentials and issue visas within the timeframe necessary to conduct a credible international monitoring mission to the majority of international election monitors from the ANFREL”.

"As a result, ANFREL was forced to cancel its observation mission for the December 30 national election," he said.