As Bangladesh gears up for elections early next year, the list of observers released by the Bangladesh Election Commission has cast doubt on the possibility of free and fair elections.
The list of observers will ensure that the Bangladesh Elections are conducted in a free and fair manner and the Bangladesh Election Commission released the names of 68 approved observers online this month.
But a report by Nikkei Asia said that instead of easing fears of election manipulation, the list has deepened suspicions regarding the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government’s motives.
Nikkei Asia and local media outlets found that nearly half the observers for the upcoming Bangladesh elections are just mere names who have no track record of monitoring elections. They were also found to have strong links to the ruling Awami League party. Both of these are violations of the nation’s election laws.
The report by Nikkei Asia highlights that one observer named Shishu Prativa Bikash Kendra led by one Mizanur Rehman is a former president of Awami League’s student wing and also ruling committee member of a ward in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh.
Rahman told the news outlet that he has no experience observing local or national elections but claimed that he can still become an observer without elaborating how his firm can do so without any prior experience.
The Bangladesh election commission acknowledged that there was an error and said the list can still be amended. They promised that written complaints against any of the entities will be considered.
“We will prepare the final list after investigating the complaints, if there are any,” Anisur Rahman, a commissioner of the current six-member panel, was quoted as saying by Nikkei Asia.
Mohammad Ali Arafat, a ruling party lawmaker and member of the Awami League’s central committee, said entities who face objections backed by solid evidence, will not be granted final approval.
The opposition parties, including the main opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), feel that the election commission is doing the ruling party’s bidding and feel it is a partisan entity.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government have faced accusations of electoral fraud and rigging in 2014 and 2018 where independent observers have highlighted instances of ballot stuffing in 2014 and 2018 Bangladesh elections.
The Hasina government is also not planning to restore the caretaker system claiming the nation’s election commission has been empowered enough to conduct free and fair elections.
During the 2018 Bangladesh elections, the election body did welcome foreign observers but there are claims that those observers were inexperienced. They endorsed the polls by saying that those were held in a free and fair manner and the The Washington Post pointed out that the prediction of 96% win for the Awami League is a statistic anyone would expect from elections held, for instance, in North Korea.
Rumeen Farhana, a BNP lawmaker, who resigned last year from the parliament to protest against the government, said the list shows the Hasina government wants to remain in power through “sham elections”.
The US and the European Union have warned the Hasina government that undermining democratic elections will result in visa denials for those found responsible. Both depend on Bangladesh as it imports ready-made garments made in the South Asian nation which is a multibillion dollar industry.