Staff Reporter:
The Commonwealth is ready to extend any form of assistance to Bangladesh in holding the up-coming 13th national parliament elections, Election Commission (EC) Secretariat Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said yesterday.
Commonwealth Secretary General Shirley Botchwey conveyed this assurance to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin during a meeting at the Election Commission headquar-ters in the capital’s Agargaon. Botchwey led a six-member delegation to the talks.
Briefing the media after the meeting, the EC senior secretary said, “The Commonwealth secretary general specifically told us that there are 56 member countries in the Commonwealth, and they are ready to provide any assistance if we request it.”
He added, “The secretary general also expressed satisfaction after knowing that the United King-dom is already supporting our election process.”
At the meeting, Akhtar Ahmed said, she showed interest to learn about EC’s preparations and pro-gress regarding the election. “We briefed them on what materials would be required, particularly for the participation of overseas voters.”
He said the delegation has expressed optimism that this historic inclusion of expatriate voters in Bangladesh’s election, for the first time in 53 years, would be successfully implemented.
The senior secretary said, “Regarding our preparations, they said, it was a challenge, but the Com-monwealth hopes that we will succeed given the way we are moving forward.”
As the delegation inquired about the country’s current law and order situation, he said, “We told them that the country has been divided into three zones – red, yellow, and green – and we are man-aging the law and order issues accordingly.”
On women’s participation in the election, the EC senior secretary said, “They were informed about the number of female voters and they appreciated it.”
They were also satisfied to hear that the voter list has been corrected, with deceased voters re-moved, he added.
Regarding misinformation, fake news, and rumors, he said, “They mentioned that such incidents occur, so we need to exercise caution.”
He continued, “We told them that we are prepared and continuously informing the public through the media, and we will further enhance this process gradually.”
Akhtar Ahmed also said that the Commonwealth Secretary General emphasized the importance of public trust in the electoral process and the critical role of awareness campaigns.
“We informed her that we have an outreach program in place and expect the political parties to cooperate. We are confident that this will help us achieve the desired outcome,” he said.
The Commonwealth secretary general arrived in Dhaka on Thursday on a five-day visit.
