A joint team of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI) of the United States Monday held a meeting with the election commission (EC) at the Nirbachan Bhaban.
EC’s additional secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath spoke to the media after the meeting.
He expressed that there was a confidential meeting between the 5-member team of the US and the election commission. They (the US mission) requested the EC not to disclose anything to the media, he added.
Ashok Kumar informed the media that the US representatives asked about preparations for the election, security plan, how the electoral equipment are being transported, code of conduct, minority communities and some other issues.
The joint team of NDI and IRI arrived in Dhaka on 23 December. They will keep a close eye on the pre and post-7 January poll violences and make an assessment of those.
The NDI and IRI technical assessment team received accreditation from the election commission and will stay in Bangladesh for six to eight weeks.
Their technical assessment includes a thematic analysis of different types of election violence, including inter and intra-party violence, violence targeting women and other marginalised groups, and online harassment and threats, as well as the role of state institutions in addressing these types of violence, in order to evaluate the drivers and implications of election violence during the election cycle.