National polls: EU’s Election Exploratory Mission arrives for 2-week visit

A six-member Election Exploratory Mission from the European Union arrived in Dhaka early today to assess the overall environment surrounding the national elections scheduled for December this year or early next year.

During the two-week visit, the EU delegation will talk to all the stakeholders -- government, political parties, Election Commission, security officials, civil society and media.

It is an independent professional exercise and not a political EU mission.

"They will have to decide if it is feasible, useful and advisable to deploy a full EU observation mission," EU Ambassador to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley told The Daily Star.

"The task of this mission will be to assess the scope, planning, budget, logistics and security of the main election observation mission," Mohammad Rafiqul Alam, foreign ministry's director general (additional charge) of public diplomacy wing, told reporters at the weekly briefing at the foreign ministry on Thursday.

The visit takes place at the invitation of the Election Commission and the foreign ministry has little to do in this regard, he added.

Based on the assessment report that will be submitted to the EU High Representative Josep Borrell, the EU will decide whether to send a full-fledged Election Observation Mission (EOM) before the next national elections.

The EU delegation in Dhaka has not made public the schedules of the mission's activities in Dhaka.

"So far there is no plan for media engagement. Their [mission members'] names have also not been made public because the delegation wants to be fully independent and unbiased," a diplomatic source said.

Meanwhile, election analysts said assessment of the mission is a determining factor for other international observers to decide if they would also come to Bangladesh to observing the elections.

The EU did not send election observers in 2018.

EU's Election Exploratory Mission will leave the country on July 23.