The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

A UN appraisal team took an overview of election affairs in a meeting with three advisers of the caretaker government Tuesday and expressed the hope the state of emergency would be lifted before the parliament elections now slated for December 29.

Talking to reporters after the meeting with the advisers at the Secretariat, leader of the UN election-assessment team Francesc Vendrell admitted that the emergency is a "concern" for holding free and fair elections."We're hopeful that the state of emergency will be lifted before the elections," he told a correspondent.

Being pressed over the critical question of holding election under or without emergency, Vendrell said general sense is "positive". Explaining the point, he said unless there is untoward incident, they don't think that the emergency would be in place in the run-up to the polls.

Asked whether they received any assurance from the advisers, the team leader said they did not seek any assurance.

"What we like to see is ensure a right climate that requires political freedom, access of media, freedom of expression and level playing field," he told another correspondent.

Vendrell is former Special Representative in Afghanistan of the European Union and previously Personal Representative of the UN Secretary-General for the same country.

Other members are Bhojraj Pokharel, Chief Election Commissioner of Nepal, and Ms. Aracelly Santana, former Deputy Director of the UN's Electoral Assistance Division and most recently Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Nepal.

UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Reneta Lok Dessallien, who is closely associated with a long-drawn process of preparing the ground for this election through comprehensive reforms, also present accompanied the UN reconnaissance team.

Earlier, they exchanged views with Advisers Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman, Hassan Ariff and Maj Gen (retd) Ghulam Kader on pre-election situation at the Works Ministry.

The UN assessment team was dispatched to Dhaka by UN secretary-general Ban ki-Moon in response to a request made by the caretaker government during his recent Bangladesh tour amid a tug-of-war over the polls that were previously slated for January 22, 2007 but cancelled following the 1/11 changeover.

The team is tasked with assessing the preparations and conduct of the elections through visits to Bangladesh before and during the elections.

They will report to the Secretary-General with their key findings and recommendations after holding talks with government and political leaders as well as the election commission and civil society before their departure on November 29.

The team will return for about a week at the time of the high-stake electoral race.