Pre-polls monitoring team of US to come Dhaka in October

US Ambassador Peter Haas said the US will send a monitoring team to Bangladesh in early October to assess the election-related environment.

After speaking with Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal at the Election Commission's headquarters on Tuesday, Haas informed this to the media people.

“I told him [chief election commissioner] that the US would be sending a pre-election monitoring team in early October,” said Haas.

The team will include professionals with extensive experience in election preparation and monitoring, including members of the National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute. 

However, he stated that he was unable to offer the team's precise timetable at this time.

Haas arrived at the EC office to meet with the CEC around 11:10am, according to EC sources.

EC Secretary Jahangir Alam and Election Commissioner Ahsan Habib also joined at the scheduled meeting.

It is learnt that in the meeting with the CEC, the latest revision of the RPO, registration of new parties and other issues were discussed.

On June 8 of last year, Peter Haas paid a visit to CEC Habibul Awal and conveyed their wish for a general election that would enable the people of Bangladesh to freely choose their leaders.

The 12th national elections will most likely hold in late December or early January of 2024.

/MHK/