Commonwealth pre-election assessment mission due in Dhaka today

A pre-election assessment team from the Commonwealth is set to arrive in Dhaka on Saturday (18 November) afternoon to observe the pre-election scenario leading up to the twelfth parliamentary election scheduled for 7 January 2024.

"Seheli Sabrin, the Director General and Spokesperson of the Public Diplomacy Wing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, briefed the media on Thursday (16 November) regarding the delegation's visit."

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sources, no formal agenda is planned for the delegation on their first day in Dhaka.

However, scheduled meetings have been organized for Sunday and Monday.

They are slated to meet with key figures including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shahab Uddin, and the Mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation, Atiqul Islam.

The Commonwealth delegation is scheduled to visit the Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar on Tuesday (21 November), with plans to return to Dhaka on the same day. 

Additionally, the delegation will visit Sylhet and several other districts from 22-25 November.

During the weekly briefing, Seheli Sabrin also said a four-member European Union (EU) expert mission will come to Bangladesh "in a few days" to observe the elections. 

Seheli also said according to sources from the Election Commission, a few more interested observer groups have applied to monitor the national elections.

Earlier in September, the European Union decided not to send observers during Bangladesh's upcoming national elections due to "budgetary constraints".

In October, the EU officially informed the Election Commission, following a delegation's visit in July, that it will send a four-member team to observe the upcoming national polls.

The EU did not send any observers in the last two national elections in 2014 and 2018.