The Election Exploratory Mission from the European Union (EU) left Dhaka in the early hours of Sunday by concluding its two week visit to Bangladesh.
During the visit from July 08 to July 22, the EU delegation held around one hundred meetings with various stakeholders and sectors concerned to assess the situation in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, the EU embassy in Dhaka has started searching for a new office space in the capital, which hints that the EU is positively thinking of sending observers to monitor the upcoming 12th National Parliament Election although the decision on whether the EU would send observer will be decided by Brussels, the headquarters of the EU.
The six-member delegation led by Riccardo Chelleri had arrived in Dhaka on July 8 and started its activities from July 9.
According to sources, two members of the delegation left Dhaka on July 17 and the rest four members left Dhaka early on Sunday.
The sources said that the delegation held around 100 separate meetings. The delegation held a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, several separate meetings with different ministers, different political parties, Election Commission, National Human Rights
Commission, Bangladesh Police, Civil Society personnel, journalists and NGOs. It also held separate meetings with the representatives from different minority communities, third genders, transgender and different ethnic groups.
Moreover, the EU delegation team visited Sylhet and Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar.
According to the EU Mission in Dhaka, the main objective of the Election Exploratory Mission was to assess the “advisability, usefulness and feasibility” of a possible EU Election Observation Mission for the upcoming 12th National Parliamentary election.
The delegation will submit a report to its Headquarters in Brussels, which will decide whether the EU would send observers or not.
According to sources, during the meetings with the EU delegation, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, ruling Bangladesh Awami League, different ministries, officials of the Election Commission, National Human Rights Commission and Bangladesh Police informed the country’s situation.
They assured the EU delegation to hold the upcoming 12th National Parliamentary election free, fair and in a peaceful manner under the democratic process and as per the constitution of the state.
In separate meetings, most of the representatives from journalists, civil society, NGO and other sectors informed the EU delegation that the people of country are waiting for the next JS poll. They also encouraged the EU delegation to send observers for the next election.
Main opposition in the parliament Jatiya Party, during its meeting, also said that they want a peaceful election.
But, BNP, Jamaat and their like-minded another party named AB Party discouraged the EU delegation in sending observers.
At the meeting, journalists in Bangladesh assured the EU delegation that the media in Bangladesh will play a role in ensuring a fair election.
At the meeting with the EU delegation, representatives from the Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB), however, raised question over the activities of the EU team.
The DCAB representatives wanted to know why Jamaat was invited for discussion considering the European Parliament in a resolution in 2014 urged BNP to “cut ties” with Jamaat and said that political parties associated with “terrorist acts” should be banned.
At the meeting the reporters encouraged the delegation to support sending observers regardless of what the next election may look like.
Meanwhile, the EU embassy in Dhaka already started searching for a new space for its office instead of its present office in capital’s Gulshan.
According to sources, the EU officials already visited the Rupayan Tower located at the capital’s Banglamotor for their new office. Besides, different places in Banani, Gulshan and Uttara have also been visited for this purpose.
Sources said the EU embassy in Dhaka is looking for a new office with bigger space so that it could accommodate additional people, who would come to visit to Bangladesh as the observers during next JS.
Talking to media, Charles Whiteley, the EU ambassador to Bangladesh, admitted that they are looking for a new office space.
He, however, said that the decision to send observers was not taken yet.
