The visiting Commonwealth pre-election assessment mission said today they have had a good discussion with the Election Commission.

"We have had a very good discussion with the Election Commission. We basically discussed the preparation by the Election Commission. How far they have come," said the leader of the delegation Linford Andrews while speaking to the media after the meeting at the Nirbachan Bhaban on Sunday (19 November).

"It is customary for the Commonwealth secretary general to send an observer mission to any member country. A pre-election mission is constituted with a number of objectives in mind. Firstly to meet various stakeholders, and asses the prevailing environment leading up to the election on 7 January," he added.

"We also here to assess if a commonwealth observer group is sent, they will be free to pursue their mandate in accordance with terms of reference. We will also make some assessment on the logistical issues of potentially employing such a mission," Andrews said.

"We now look forward to the rest of our visit where we have meetings with a range of stakeholders before departing Bangladesh on 22 November. Then we will submit a report to the Commonwealth secretary general with the recommendations on the next steps," the Commonwealth official also said.

When asked, if there was any discussion over the current environment in the country, Linford Andrews said, "We just arrived in Bangladesh yesterday, It is in fact very first meeting, so it's too early to comment about it."

After the meeting, EC Secretary Md Jahangir Alam said the Commonwealth delegation did not comment on the current political situation in the country.

"They will go to the Commonwealth Secretariat and submit the report. After receiving the report, Commonwealth will decide whether they will send a team to observe the election or not," he added.

In response to a question, the EC secretary said, "They [Commonwealth delegation] did not discuss the political situation. They only want to be informed about election procedures and election laws, regulations, vote management, what arrangements are made for disabled voters, and expatriates and vehicle management on polling day. CEC and Election Commissioners have highlighted this. The visiting delegation expressed satisfaction with the arrangements."

He further said, "It is a bilateral discussion. They wanted to know something, we told them. Their job is to know about the election system of Bangladesh. They did not ask any other questions."

The Election Commission (EC) held a meeting with the Commonwealth pre-election assessment from 10am.

The Commonwealth team comprises Linford Andrews, adviser and head of the Electoral Support Section (staff team leader), Lindiwe Maleleka, political adviser, Electoral Support Section, Zippy Ojago, executive officer, Electoral Support Section and Sarthak Roy, assistant research officer, Political Division (Asia).

The pre-election assessment team from the Commonwealth arrived in Dhaka on Saturday (18 November) afternoon to observe the pre-election scenario leading up to the twelfth parliamentary election scheduled for 7 January 2024.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sources, no formal agenda is planned for the delegation on their first day in Dhaka.

However, scheduled meetings have been organised for Sunday and Monday.

They are slated to meet with key figures including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shahab Uddin, and the Mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation, Atiqul Islam.

The Commonwealth delegation is scheduled to visit the Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar on Tuesday (21 November), with plans to return to Dhaka on the same day. 

Additionally, the delegation will visit Sylhet and several other districts from 22-25 November.

Earlier in September, the European Union decided not to send observers during Bangladesh's upcoming national elections due to "budgetary constraints".

In October, the EU officially informed the Election Commission, following a delegation's visit in July, that it would send a four-member team to observe the upcoming national polls.

The EU did not send any observers in the last two national elections in 2014 and 2018.