Observers from India's election commission praise conduct of peaceful general election in Bangladesh

Dhaka, Jan 8 (PTI) A three-member delegation from the Election Commission of India on Monday lauded Bangladesh's top electoral body for its meticulous planning and the peaceful conduct of the just-concluded polls that reelected Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s party for a straight fourth term.
     Incumbent prime minister Hasina's Awami League (AL) won 223 seats in the 300-member Parliament on Sunday in the polls boycotted by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the main opposition.
     The Bangladesh government invited a large number of foreign observers from India and other countries, as well as multilateral organisations, to observe the elections.
     The three-member delegation is led by the Election Commission of India's Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Dharmendra Sharma and includes Director General B Narayanan and Principal Secretary Mohammed Umar.
     Appreciating the Bangladesh Election Commission for its “meticulous planning and arrangements” in conducting the general election, the delegation said that it saw citizens exercising their electoral rights peacefully.
     “We appreciate the efforts of the Election Commission of Bangladesh and its meticulous planning and arrangements made for the conduct of the election process and facilitating this visit,” said a press release by the Indian Election Commission, carrying the statement of the visiting delegation.
     “We saw citizens of Bangladesh exercising their electoral rights at these stations peacefully,” it said.
     They also thanked the Bangladesh Election Commission for inviting them as observers to witness the country’s 12th Parliamentary elections.
     Poll monitors from several other countries, including the US, Canada, Russia, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab Parliament, termed the just-concluded general elections in Bangladesh as free, fair, and peaceful.
     The observers praised the election process in Bangladesh, with one of them pointing out that the caretaker government system over which the opposition BNP boycotted the polls was anti-democratic.
     “It's been a very fair and free process for people walking in. There's a lot of good security and a very transparent process,” said Shaoquett Moselmane, an Australian observer.
     “I found the election to be very peaceful, free, and fair,” said Jim Bates, a former US Congressman, at a press conference at the end of the polling.
     Bangladesh invited a large number of foreign observers from different countries and multilateral organisations to observe the elections amid the opposition boycott.
     Hasina, who has been ruling the strategically located South Asian nation since 2009, secured a record fourth consecutive term and fifth overall term in the one-sided election, which witnessed the second-lowest turnout since the restoration of democracy in 1991.
     With this win, Hasina is poised to become the longest-serving prime minister in Bangladesh since independence.
     Former premier Khaleda Zia-led BNP, which boycotted the election and observed a strike on election day, said the party plans to intensify its anti-government movement through a peaceful public engagement programme from Tuesday as it dubbed the polls as "fake".
     The BNP boycotted the 2014 election but joined the one in 2018. This time, they boycotted the polls. Fifteen other political parties also boycotted the election.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)