Following widespread criticism, the Election Commission (EC) has suspended its decision to issue more than 10,000 election observer cards to the People’s Association for Social Advancement (PASA) in Chunarughat, Habiganj.
Chief Adviser’s Deputy Press Secretary Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad Majumder made the announcement on Saturday night at a press conference in front of the state guest house Jamuna in Dhaka.
He said PASA, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), had announced plans to appoint 10,000 election observers. After reviewing the matter, the EC was not satisfied with the organisation’s capacity and therefore suspended the distribution of observer cards.
However, PASA’s Executive Director Syed Humayun Kabir said he had not yet received any information or letter from the EC regarding the suspension.
Locals reported that the organisation’s signboard was hung on the two-story residence of its executive director in Borompur village. They said PASA had no visible activities and no office in the district town. Questions arose over how the organisation alone could provide more than 10,000 observers for the national election.
On-site visits revealed that the office was actually Kabir’s own house. In one dilapidated room, thousands of observer application forms were stored. Although the organisation claimed to have 12 staff members, no regular activities were found.
According to EC data, 81 local organisations have been approved to deploy a total of 55,454 observers in this election. Of these, PASA alone accounted for 10,559 observers, nearly one-fifth of all approved observers nationwide.
