The highly publicised appearance of a new poll monitoring group appears to have impressed many of us in Bangladesh with their high-level interactions with the Election Commission, ministers and a few other politicians. They were joined by quite a few foreigners, too, who expressed their full confidence in the EC's ability to organise fair elections. It was probably the current EC's first formal meeting on the issue of election monitoring with some "to be monitors." Though Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal and four other commissioners spent about an hour in a meeting with those local and foreign so-called observers, there was no communique or statement issued on the EC's behalf.

Unfortunately, colleagues in the media who covered the event didn't tell us anything beyond what the chief of the local monitoring organisation and his foreign companions told them. As far as we know, the EC is yet to announce the list of the poll monitoring organisations who received their accreditation for the next general election. The EC website has only one list containing 118 civil society organisations (CSO), which dates back to 2018, and the Election Monitoring Forum (EMF) is not one of them. But, interestingly, EMF chief Abed Ali's name is listed as the secretary-general of Saarc Human Rights Foundation (SHRF).

Read more

Serving a party is against the oath of BPSC

EMF and SHRF are two names that should ring a bell with readers as they hit the headlines in local and foreign media in 2018 when some so-called international observers brought in by these two groups certified the much discredited December 30 parliamentary election as not only free, fair and peaceful, but a "glowing example for other democratic countries." Few weeks later, some of those observers regretted making that statement. One of the foreign observers, Tanya Foster, who visited Bangladesh with her daughter, told Reuters that they had never acted as international observers to a national election before.

The EMF website doesn't have any information about its history, such as when it was founded, whether it is a registered non-government organisation, and how or who finances their activities. However, it lists former Election Commissioner Md Shahnewaz as a director and another former Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury as a special adviser. Interestingly, EMF's name first appeared in relation to the election that was held under Brig Gen Chowdhury's commission, though it was not accredited for election observation, but somehow associated with SHRF in bringing in foreign monitors.

One other crucial piece of information that emerged about the SHRF following the 2018 election monitoring report was that it had nothing to do with the South Asian regional grouping Saarc, but used their logo without authorisation. The foundation's advisory board also had prominent members of the ruling coalition, including Awami League MP Obaidul Muqtadir Chowdhury as its president. The Facebook page of Prof Abed Ali, now president of the EMF and secretary-general of SHRF, also contains a good number of photographs depicting his close association with the ruling party.

Read more

Politicians must give dialogue a chance

It is, therefore, quite intriguing as to why the EC felt it necessary to hold a meeting with an organisation that does not have a clean history of poll monitoring. How can an organisation having well-publicised political links qualify for such a preferential treatment? Did the presence of two former election commissioners on the EMF board somehow influence the current EC to entertain them well before finalising the observers' list? Can a local observer group bring in foreigners for poll monitoring bypassing the EC, who alone has the legal authority to scrutinise and approve international monitors?

According to Prothom Alo, Abed Ali now admits that two of the four foreigners are journalists and therefore can be termed as observers. However, the EC has a very different accreditation process for foreign journalists.

There are published guidelines for election observation (international observers) on the EC website posted in November 2018, presumably still valid, clearly providing the route for applying and getting approval for all foreigners willing to monitor our elections. The guidelines also include a code of conduct, which states, "Maintain strict political impartiality." Does the EC now see those so-called international observers' partisan comments on a very divisive political issue made to the media as violation of the code, and will it take some visible action against them, such as debarring them from poll observation?

The importance of election monitoring can't be overemphasised. Many of us think it only happens in Third World countries like ours. But that's not true. Both local and international observers regularly observe elections in the United States. Each state of the US has its own law regulating observers, but one thing is essential and common, which is political neutrality of the observers. The Organization of Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) routinely sends observer missions to the US during general and midterm elections following invitations.

Unfortunately, due to the nature of our politics and the lack of mutual trust and respect among major contending parties, the issue of election observation has also become an issue of contention and mistrust, which in turn has made the role of international observers even more crucial. With gradual weakening of democracy and rise of authoritarianism, the ruling party seems, at least in some powerful quarters in the government, to have opted to follow the tactics deployed by some other autocratic regimes around the world.

Read more

Column by Mahfuz Anam: Vienna Convention and the relationship with our development partners

These tricks have been identified by the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI), which it describes as "a mock-compliance strategy" to achieve external validation. Their tactics include: gatekeeper tactics with highly regulated accreditation schemes to avoid larger and renowned professional observers; observation schemes including national/regional/international "fake observers"; investment in international public relations firms to bolster the international image; and ensuring sympathetic observers from other countries via bilateral parliamentary bodies.

Their observation that the first two techniques have become widespread among all autocratic regimes can easily be drawn into our 2018 experience. One may recount the example of ANFREL, Asia's largest and most credible observer organisation, which had to abandon their Bangladesh monitoring mission owing to visa and accreditation issues. The story of SHRF hosting foreign observers is no different from the second tactic listed by the DROI.

Recognising the crucial role international observers can play in validating genuine elections, more than 20 leading international and regional organisations and institutions have formulated and endorsed a declaration of principles for international election observation and a code of conduct for international election observers. It has been in force since 2005, and any individual or organisation that does not follow this code can't be considered as an international observer.

Article 11 of the declaration reads, "A decision by any organisation to organise an international election observation mission or to explore the possibility of organising an observation mission does not imply that the organisation necessarily deems the election process in the country holding the elections to be credible. An organisation should not send an international election observation mission to a country under conditions that make it likely that its presence will be interpreted as giving legitimacy to a clearly undemocratic electoral process, and international election observation missions in any such circumstance should make public statements to ensure that their presence does not imply such legitimacy." Shouldn't we take note of these universally accepted principles and codes before calling anyone an international observer?

Kamal Ahmed is an independent journalist. His Twitter handle is @ahmedka1

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has asked the mobile operators and international internet gateways to be ready for immediate implementation of its instructions regarding internet speed and content from December 29 to 31.

The telecom regulator yesterday held two separate meetings with the mobile operators and IIGs at its office, but didn't give any specific directive to them in this regard, said meeting sources.

The BTRC asked the operators and IIGs to keep their offices open from December 29 to 31 round the clock. The 11th parliamentary election is slated for December 30.

According to a BTRC official, who was present at the meeting, the commission may instruct the mobile operators to downgrade internet speed to 2G from 3G or 4G as around 90 percent internet users go online through mobile operators.

Broadband internet service might be outside the purview of the government instructions due to its use in various business purposes, especially in banking activities, the official told The Daily Star requesting anonymity.

The meeting, chaired by BTRC Commissioner Rezual Quader, with the mobile operators was part of the regulator's preparation to implement instructions of the Election Commission. The operators are the main source of internet bandwidth for the country's 9.24 crore internet users.

The EC on Monday had asked the telecom regulator to make preparation for downgrading the internet speed to 2G from December 29-31.

It also directed the BTRC to be prepared for blocking social media, especially Facebook, and also some communication applications, if required.

The BTRC official said they asked the mobile operators and IIGs to promptly implement any instruction from the commission or the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre.

The mobile operators said they would implement any instruction if it came in black and white.

The IIG operators informed the BTRC that they were capable of implementing instructions on blocking websites within 30 minutes.

After attending the meeting, an IIG owner said they could block any specific website or internet link and bar the use of any communication application. The issues came up for discussion in the meeting.

On December 14, EC Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed said they were considering downgrading the mobile internet speed to 2G from 3G or 4G.

The officer-in-charge of Kolaroa Police Station in Satkhira allegedly sought vote for Awami League's electoral symbol “Boat,” violating the electoral code of conduct.

“I, on behalf of the administration, want to say you one thing that you will cast your vote for the pro-liberation forces, for the 'boat' symbol,” the OC Maruf Ahmed said while speaking at a programme on Thursday.

A video clip of his speech went viral on social media where many people expressed their shock and dismay over the issue.

Narrating the incident, Habibul Islam Habib, a former BNP lawmaker and the Oikyafront candidate in Satkhira-1 constituency, submitted a written complaint to the Election Commission and demanded his immediate withdrawal.

“Some ruling party men, led by OC Maruf, have been carrying out violent attacks on the residents of BNP's leaders and activists for the last couple of days,” Habib told The Daily Star, adding that he had been staying outside of his constituency for the last few days due to security concerns.

“The minimum election atmosphere is even absent in Satkhira-1 constituency,” he said, adding that the local returning officer did not take any steps in this regard despite repeated appeals. 

OC Maruf, however, denied the allegation.

He told The Daily Star that he attended the programme for ensuring security and gave a welcome speech that was manipulated later by incorporating those words.

The video clip shows that Maruf asking all the audience to vote the AL-led government to power again for the continuation of the ongoing development.

 Merina Akter, assistant superintendent of Police (Sadar Circle) in Satkhira said it was not appropriate for him to speak about politics.

District returning officer SM Mostafa Kamal said they already had informed the district superintendent of police to take steps against the police officer in question.

Currently, people's top priority is employment, followed by transport and education, finds a Brac survey ahead of the December 30 polls.

During the survey, carried out by the NGO's Advocacy for Social Change (ASC) in September, 5,378 respondents from all the districts and different socio-economic groups, genders, professions and ages were asked about election manifesto, selection of MP candidates and expectations from the next elected government.

At least 27.7 percent respondents said they were looking for a solution to the countrywide unemployment problem, while 26.3 percent want to see development in the transport infrastructure, and nearly 23.8 percent prioritised progress in the education sector.

Demand for a free and fair election came fourth on the list, as 17.17 percent respondents expected to see credible polls.

The Rohingya crisis, which has affected Bangladesh to a great extent and remains an issue of global concern, was named by 4.5 percent respondents.

The survey results have reflected people's perception, Asif Saleh, senior director of strategy, communications and empowerment at Brac, told The Daily Star yesterday.

“The new government, whoever it is, must take up massive measures to create jobs by engaging the private and non-profit sectors.”

He said there had been a jobless growth over the years, and that it was predicted that the job growth might come down in future with automation in industries.

“Therefore, we really need to think differently how to create more jobs for our huge number of youths joining the labour force every year.

“Quality education here is another top issue. We need to focus more on some foundational aspects so that students become analytical and efficient in communications. It will help them be competent in the changing jobs scenario,” he said.

He also said the transport sector, being a public priority, has been really “surprising”. This proves that the mobility of people is growing fast and that they want road safety, he added.

PEOPLE'S PRIORITIES

For new (aged 18-23), young (aged 24-35) or middle-aged voters (36-60), the priority is more or less similar with the top being employment followed by transport and education. But for old aged (60 plus) people, transport infrastructure development is the highest priority, the survey said.

The top three priority areas are same for both male and female, but the number of male who think that employment generation should be the top priority in the election manifesto is higher than that of the female.

On the other hand, education is more important for females than males (24.6pc versus 23.1pc).

Young female participants' priority choices are different from the “usual priority list”. For them, number one priority is transport (27.7pc), followed by employment and education.

At least 38.8 percent of those surveyed in the city corporation areas think employment should be the highest priority, while it was 28.9 percent for the people in rural areas. At least 28.3 percent respondents in rural areas think transport should be the top priority.

People with higher level of education prioritised employment and education, according to the survey.

For farmers and labourers, the most important issue has been found transport. But for the employed and unemployed people as well as students, the most important issue is unemployment.

For the people in Cox's Bazar, the highest priority is fair election, followed by the Rohingya crisis.

KNOWLEDGE ON MANIFESTO

More than two third or 68.6 percent respondents have heard about election manifesto and the knowledge about it is higher among the male participants compared to their female counterparts.

People in Barishal division (81.8pc) and Mymensingh division (81.6pc) know more about election manifesto whereas people from Dhaka division (59.1pc) know about it the least.

Not surprisingly, rural people heard less about election manifesto than those in urban areas. Knowledge about the manifesto is much higher among better educated people.

Though 82.8 percent respondents consider election manifesto as important documents, only one out of four respondents has ever gone through one. But the percentage is significantly low among females than males.

Forty nine percent respondents said candidates' acceptability and qualifications were the key factors that govern voting decisions. And, 30.6 percent respondents said they were influenced by electoral symbols of the parties. Only 6.9 percent respondents consider manifestos before making a voting decision.

But for nearly 53 percent females and middle-aged people (36 to 60), qualification of the candidates are more important in making voting decision, while political party is important for farmers (38.4pc) and businessmen (37.2pc).

For 69.1 percent respondents, commitment towards resolving pressing national issues govern voting decisions, while 25.1 percent respondents said promises to deal with local or regional issues matter most to them.

Interestingly, people living in rural areas, labourers and farmers are more concerned about the local problems.

The European Union will not send a full-fledged election observeration mission during the upcoming national polls as it considers the environment in Bangladesh is not conducive to observe elections.

The EU sent a letter to the Election Commission yesterday, informing of the assessment of the EU exploratory mission that visited Bangladesh in January and July this year.

During the July visit, the six-member EU exploratory mission held meetings with a range of stakeholders including the EC, officials of the ministries of home, law, information, foreign affairs, and Chattogram Hill Tracts affairs, law enforcers, civil society groups, and journalists.

"A letter regarding this has been sent to the Election Commission and a copy to the foreign ministry," a foreign ministry official told The Daily Star today.

"They say that environment is not conducive, but it is not clear to us how they assessed the environment," the official said.

The EU, however, indicated that it would send a small group of experts during the upcoming elections slated for January next year.

The development comes when the ruling Awami League and opposition BNP are at odds over the polls-time administration. Awami League says the election will be held under the current government as per the constitution, while the opposition is demanding the installation of a caretaker government, saying the elections under the current administration will not be free and fair.

The opposition also says the last two elections under the Awami League government were marred by irregularities.

The US has been repeatedly stressing on free and fair elections and on May 24 this year announced visa restrictions on those involved in vote rigging or intimidation.
In 2021, the US imposed sanctions against Rab and seven of its current and former officials for alleged human rights violations. The US also did not invite Bangladesh to the Democracy Summit in 2021 and 2023.

"It is quite shocking that the EU has decided not to send election observation team. This could work as a motivation for other foreign election observation teams not to come to Bangladesh," a diplomatic source said.

The EU also did not send an election observation team in the 2018 national elections.

On September 14, the European Parliament also adopted a resolution expressing deep concerns over the "deteriorating human rights situation" in Bangladesh.

The resolution specifically deplored the prison sentence against two Odhikar leaders - Adilur Rahman Khan and ASM Nasiruddin Elan - handed down on 14 September, and urged the Bangladesh government to immediately and unconditionally quash the ruling, to drop all charges against Odhikar's representatives and reinstate the rights body's registration, and to ensure that civil society organisations can access approved foreign grants.

M Humayun Kabir, president of Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI), earlier told The Daily Star that the EU did not send observers for 2018 polls and the international community was highly critical of the last two elections. Therefore, presence of international observers during the upcoming elections is very important.

He said international acceptability of the election is extremely important for the country, given the economic and diplomatic challenges in the post-LDC Bangladesh, especially in the changing global geopolitical environment following the Russia-Ukraine war.