The 12th national polls of Bangladesh did not meet some internationally recognised standards for a democratic election. Although the exercise of civic and political rights is fundamental for democracy, it was limited in case of the 7 January election.
The European Union (EU) Election Expert Mission came up with this evaluation regarding the 12th general elections in Bangladesh in a report published Friday.
The EU mission said while the Election Commission (EC) had extensive power, there was lack of confidence among some stakeholders as to whether the commission could deliver a fair election.
The report reads the voters did not have the opportunity to fully exercise their democratic right to vote for a diverse range of candidates following a decision by the main opposition party to boycott the elections.
At the same time, seat-sharing agreements between participating political parties, as well as the Awami League engineering a system of internal competition between its own official candidates and ‘independent candidates’ affiliated with this party, did not offer voters genuine freedom of choice.
The voters could not actually choose the candidates of their choice as it was merely a contest between Awami League’s own candidates and its independent candidates.
The report published on the EU website also made 21-point recommendations to ensure a free, fair, credible election in compliance with international standards. The EU election experts also stressed more transparency and accountability in the work process of the EC.
Earlier, in July last year, an EU pre-election mission visited Bangladesh and held more than 100 meetings with the stakeholders on the overall electoral environment.
Later in September, the EU informed the EC in a letter that it won’t send a full-fledged mission to observe the general election in Bangladesh. The letter mainly cited lack of funds as the reason behind this decision.
However, the EU, in its final report, has mentioned lack of proper environment for election observation as the key factor. In particular, the report of the pre-election mission had such indications.
The EU, later, sent a four-member technical team to observe the 7-January election which stayed in Bangladesh for almost two months before and after the election to prepare the report.
The EU election expert mission report stated overall, the 2024 parliamentary election in Bangladesh did not meet some key international standards for a democratic election. Civil and political rights, including the freedoms of assembly, association, movement, and speech essential for inclusive and competitive elections, were restricted. Opposition political parties’ activities were severely limited by judicial proceedings and mass arrests. Voters did not have the opportunity to fully exercise their democratic right to vote for a diverse range of candidates following a decision by the main opposition party to boycott the elections. Seat-sharing agreements between participating political parties, as well as the Awami League engineering a system of internal competition between its own official candidates and ‘independent candidates’ affiliated with this party, did not offer voters genuine freedom of choice. The environment for media and civil society was also not conducive to guaranteeing freedom of speech and further limited critical public debate and transparency.
The EU said In the pre-election period, as part of a series of opposition demonstrations, a large protest march on 28 October 2023 resulted in serious violence. Subsequently, the civil and political rights environment deteriorated significantly with mass arrests and detention of BNP and alliance party leaders and thousands of supporters.
This has severely restricted the exercise of the freedoms of assembly, association, movement, and speech of opposition parties throughout the election period. With nearly all of the senior leadership incarcerated or evading arrest, the BNP’s ability to carry out any political activities was limited by criminal cases pursued in the courts. These moves were widely perceived as part of a strategy to instrumentalise criminal charges in order to prevent any challenges to the election process.
Fundamental civil and political rights essential for the conduct of credible democratic elections are enshrined in the Constitution of Bangladesh 1972 and international treaties that Bangladesh is a State Party to. However, the protection of some of these rights is undermined by legislation that unduly restricts the rights to freedom of speech and association.
Voting was conducted in a generally organised and orderly manner. There were some isolated incidents of violence reported on election day. There were also reports by the election commission and claims made by candidates of voting irregularities in localised attempts at fraud, including ballot box stuffing. Some of these were dealt with promptly by the election commission and returning officers and 25 polling centres were suspended, whilst other incidents were neglected and not adequately investigated.
The final turnout published by the election commission was 41.8 per cent. This was marked by wide disparities across the country.
The EU election experts also made a comprehensive set of detailed recommendations in the report in order to further improve certain areas in the electoral process, including the Representation of the People Order, 1972 could provide increased legal certainty and consistency as well as a more harmonised legal framework in line with international standards for democratic elections. This could be carried out within a process of enactment of a new consolidated law by parliament.