EMF Confident in EC’s Capacity to Conduct Fair Elections

The Election Monitoring Forum (EMF) is confident that the Election Commission (EC) can hold impartial elections while the ruling party is in power. 

Terry L. Islay, a US citizen and part of the EMF group, made the remark during a Sunday discussion with the Election Commission.

Terry L Islay, founder of Tenet Finance International Group, said: "Your (Bangladesh's) constitution does not support a caretaker government. To do this, the constitution must be changed. If it's a good idea, and if they (EC) want to do it, they can't. Because there is no legal framework to do so.”

He also mentioned that he was not representing the US government, and said: "As members of the international observer team, we believe that under this government, the Election Commission will be able to hold free and fair elections." 

"We hope that they (EC) will be able to hold free and fair elections in accordance with the constitution," said Nick Paul, a senior journalist from Ireland who is also part of the delegation. 

Election Monitoring Forum Chairman Abed Ali said: "Foreign observers wanted to know about the preparations for the upcoming elections and the recent elections. Representatives of the European Union, including the United States, want to see the next election.”

The delegates, he continued, sought to hear what actions the Election Commission had done following the attack on Hero Alom during the by-elections for the Dhaka-17 seat.

Meeting with the Election Commission on the forthcoming parliamentary election in the nation was held by the election monitoring delegation, which included representatives from the US, China, Japan, and Ireland.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal served as the delegation's leader for the Election Commission. The meeting was also attended by election commissioners Ahsan Habib Khan, Md Alamgir, Rasheda Sultana, and Anisur Rahman, as well as Election Commission Secretary Md Jahangir Alam.

The state minister for foreign affairs, the home minister, the information minister, and the law minister will all meet with the foreign delegation later.

They will also hold meetings with Bangladesh Awami League, Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Jatiya Party, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Bangladesh Islami Front, Zaker Party, Islamic Front Bangladesh, other political parties.

On Saturday, the visiting delegation took part in a civic dialogue on the assessment of the election, pre-election situation, and political atmosphere of the country.