A seven-member European Union (EU) delegation will hold a meeting with the Election Commission (EC) in Dhaka on Monday to discuss the possibility of sending observers for the upcoming 13th national election.
The delegation will be led by Senior Election Expert Riccardo Celeri. EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed shared the information with reporters on Sunday.
Akhtar said the EU observation team was initially scheduled to arrive in mid-September, and Monday’s meeting is part of that process.
He noted that the team will hold discussions with various stakeholders to assess the pre-election environment. The delegation will include three foreign and four local observers.
EC officials say the EU electoral team will meet Election Commissioner Brigadier General (retd) Md Sanuallah and other EC officials on Monday.
The meeting with EC officials will take place from 3pm to 4pm, followed by a separate meeting with Election Commissioner Brigadier General (retd) Sanuallah from 4pm to 5pm.
EC officials further said the EU team has been engaging with both government and non-government stakeholders to gather insights about the elections.
Based on their findings, the EU will later decide—under its established procedures—whether to deploy a full-scale observation mission during the polls.
Earlier on 19 August, EU Ambassador Charles Whiteley held a meeting with the EC.
