The United Nations (UN) has clarified that it will not deploy election observers for Bangladesh’s upcoming February polls, unless there is a specific mandate from the UN General Assembly or the UN Security Council.
The position was outlined on Monday during a press briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the Secretary-General, where the UN said sending election observers is no longer part of its standard practice without formal authorisation from the UN’s principal bodies.
Responding to a question on the matter, the spokesman said the UN itself does not send observers unless mandated by the United Nations General Assembly or the United Nations Security Council, adding that such deployments are therefore not currently envisaged.
However, the spokesman noted that the UN often provides technical support during elections and said he would check whether the UN country office in Bangladesh was offering any such assistance ahead of the polls.
The briefing also addressed a question on the recent return of BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman after 17 years abroad, and how the UN viewed the development in the context of Bangladesh’s democratic transition.
In response, the UN spokesman said the organisation does not assess political developments as news events, stressing that such evaluations are the role of journalists.
He added that the UN would support elections and the free expression of the Bangladeshi people’s political vision in any way it could.
The UN also expressed condolences over the death of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, who was the country’s first female prime minister and served three terms in office.
The spokesman said the UN conveyed its sympathies to her family and to the people of Bangladesh following her passing.
