US Independent Team to Observe Bangladesh Polls

The United States will send an independent delegation along with officials from its embassy to observe Bangladesh’s upcoming 13th national parliamentary election, said Senior Secretary of the Election Commission (EC) Akhtar Ahmed. However, they will not act as formal observers enlisted by the EC but will instead monitor the polls on their own initiative.

Akhtar Ahmed shared the information on Wednesday after US Ambassador to Bangladesh Brent Christensen met Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) at the Election Commission headquarters in Dhaka.

According to the EC senior secretary, representatives of the US embassy will observe the voting situation in four regions—Dhaka, Sylhet, Chattogram, and Khulna. “They have informed us that they will go independently. We have no objection to that,” he said, adding that the team will provide a list of locations they plan to visit. Once the list is received, the EC will extend necessary facilitation.

When the US representatives inquired about possible restrictions on movement on election day, they were told that the Ministry of Home Affairs would decide the duration and scope of any transport restrictions.

Akhtar Ahmed said the US delegation was briefed on the design of ballot papers and the training of field-level election officials. He noted that the representatives observed the entire process and commented that it is complex and demanding, but expressed satisfaction with the overall management.

On election security, he said nearly 950,000 security personnel will be deployed nationwide at different levels, and the US representatives were informed about the scale of the security arrangements.

Asked whether the US team raised any specific observations regarding violations of the electoral code of conduct, Akhtar Ahmed said no complaints were made. Instead, they sought details about the EC’s complaint management system. He explained that the EC has a complaint management cell, inquiry committees, and judicial magistrates working in the field. He added that a complaint received from a district earlier in the day was promptly forwarded to the returning officer for swift resolution.

Regarding questions about Jamaat-e-Islami’s call for a women’s rally on January 31 and allegations of attacks on its activists, the EC senior secretary said he was not aware of the matter.