The New Nation - Internet Edition

Rafiqul Islam Azad

Over six thousand watchers including more than one hundred foreigners would monitor the ensuing local government elections to four city corporations and nine pourasabhas.

Sources in the Election Commission (EC) said on an average eight observers would monitor the elections to be held on August 4. Most of the watchers are expected to observe elections in Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet city corporation elections.

The rest will observe the elections to nine pourasabhas-Shariatpur, Chuadanga, Manikganj, Nauhata, Dupchachiya, Sreepur, Fulbaria, Golapganj and Sitakunda.

An EC official termed the number of observers highest ever in the history of the local government polls. Less than two thousand observers monitored Dhaka, Khulna and Rajshahi city corporation polls in 2002, he referred.

According to sources, a total of 119 observers from European Union, German Embassy in

Dhaka, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Britain, France, Netherlands, Turkey, Italy, Japan and Norway Embassy, NDI, IRI and USAID of USA, DFID of Britain sought permission from the EC to monitor the elections to four city corporations and nine pourasabhas.

Besides, the Election Working Group (EWG) comprising 33 organisations, funded by Asia Foundation, would monitor the polls in four city corporations and Manikganj pourasabha. The FEMA would monitor elections in all the four city corporations and nine pourasabhas alone.

EC sources said, the Commission is likely to allow maximum number of observers to watch the election process for the sake of making the ensuing polls free, fair and neutral one.

However, the Commission has adopted strict policy for the observers so that the elections are not disrupted due to huge crowd of observers.

According to the policy, the observers should be non-partisan and neutral. They will be allowed to enter inside the booth but cannot stay for long.

The observers can observe the voting and counting process but they will not be allowed to interference in election activities and apprise someone about election result before the announcement, sources said.

Sources said the observers must submit their observation report to the Commission and refrain from making any statement about the result before the announcement.