On Tuesday 28 April, the European Union Election Observation Mission in Bangladesh published its final report on the parliamentary elections held on 12 February.
After two months’ work on the ground, the mission hails an election that was “competently managed”, marking a key step towards restoring the Rule of law in the country. The chief observer, MEP Ivars Ijabs (Renew Europe, Latvian), praised the electoral commission’s professionalism, in particular for having allowed “770,000 voters living abroad” to vote.
The report, however, points to persistent structural shortcomings and makes 19 recommendations, including six priority recommendations, to help the country address them. The EU is thus urging the Bangladeshi authorities to: reform the national legal framework; provide a better framework for campaign financing; ensure the transparency of the vote count; secure the digital environment; encourage women’s participation to compensate for a lack of female candidates; and extend postal voting.
This assessment, conducted by 223 international observers, is part of the new partnership agreement between the EU and Dhaka.
The Election Observation Mission’s full report: https://aeur.eu/f/lq0 (Original version in French by Justine Manaud)