With the 12th parliamentary elections in Bangladesh on the horizon, private organizations are clamouring to register as election observers. The Election Commission (EC) has already received 199 applications from these organizations within the deadline of 2 February. The EC has promised that the registered organizations will have the opportunity to monitor national and local government elections for the next five years.
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Primary verification process of applications
A seven-member committee formed by the EC is responsible for verifying the applications submitted by the organizations. The verification process is currently underway and almost half of the applications are likely to be discarded in the primary verification stage. Following the primary verification, the organizations will have a 15-day period to raise objections if they have any. Once the objections hearing period ends, the commission will prepare the final list of organizations that will be registered as election observers.
Registration to be completed by August
As per the EC’s plan of action, the final list of local election observer agencies will be ready by August this year. It is important to note that local organizations cannot observe any polls without registering with the election commission. Presently, a total of 118 organizations are registered with the EC as election observers. Their registration will expire on 11 July this year. Of these, 40 organizations have applied for registration again this year.
Validity of registration to be cancelled for non-performing organizations
The EC will cancel the applications of those agencies that did not monitor any polls in the last five years, despite being registered with the commission. Certain factors will be considered while registering an agency, such as the observer agency must be registered under the country’s law, non-partisan, and politically neutral. Any person involved in politics or planning to contest in any election in the future cannot be a member of the governing body of any election observing organization.
Observers act as EC’s supporting power
Election Commissioner Md Alamgir stated that the commission is verifying the applications for registering as local observers of elections, and the registration process will be completed on time. Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan) secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar added that observers work as the eyes and ears of the EC, and that only neutral organizations should be registered with the EC, not biased ones. Badiul Alam Majumdar said, “The observers work as the eyes and ears of the EC. They are the supporting power of the EC. Therefore, only the neutral organisations should be registered with the EC, not the biased ones.”
The registration of local election observers was introduced before the 9th parliamentary election in 2008, and it was included in the Representation of the People Order. The EC developed a policy for local election observers, and a total of 138 agencies were registered as election observers for the first time in 2008. In the 9th general election, 159,113 observers from 75 organisations monitored the polls. Local and foreign observers had the opportunity to monitor the polls before the general election in 2008, and around 218,000 observers from 69 organisations monitored the 8th parliamentary election while 81 local agencies monitored the general election in 2018.
