Dhaka, Aug 4: A pre-election observation team from the European Union (EU) is scheduled to visit Bangladesh in mid-September to evaluate the electoral environment ahead of the country’s 13th parliamentary elections, expected to take place next year.
Senior Secretary of the Election Commission (EC), Akhtar Ahmed, confirmed the development on Monday, citing an official communication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The visiting team will comprise three international and four local observers.
“The EU observers will assess the Election Commission’s preparedness for conducting the upcoming general elections,” Ahmed said while speaking to reporters in Dhaka.
During the briefing, Ahmed also provided updates on political party compliance with financial regulations. Of the 51 registered political parties, 30 have submitted their audited financial statements for the previous calendar year, as required by law. Fifteen parties requested deadline extensions, while six newly registered parties are yet to respond.
One newly registered party has stated it is currently ineligible to submit audit reports, while the remaining five have yet to communicate with the EC. All updates will be forwarded from the EC Secretariat to the Commission for review and further action.
Regarding new party registrations, Ahmed noted that the EC received 148 applications by the June 22 deadline. After eliminating duplicates, 145 valid applications were considered. The EC instructed all applicants to provide additional documents to rectify inconsistencies. So far, 80 parties have complied, six have requested more time, and 59 have not responded.
Ahmed also said the EC is preparing to release two supplementary voter lists by August 10—one listing newly registered voters and another for deceased voters. Corrections, address changes, and objections can be submitted until August 21. The final voter list is scheduled for publication on August 31.
