US pre-election assessment mission to meet AL, BNP tomorrow

The visiting US pre-election assessment mission will hold meetings with Awami League and BNP tomorrow.

The US delegation arrived in Bangladesh today to follow electoral preparations and conduct an impartial assessment about sending a full-fledged election observation team in the upcoming general election. The mission consists of members of National Democratic Institute (NDI) and International Republican Institute (IRI) of the US.

The US mission will meet AL leaders at 11:00am on Monday. The meeting is likely to take place at Sheraton Hotel in the city's Banani. Earlier at 10:30am, the US team will hold a meeting with BNP leaders at the party chairperson’s office at Gulshan.

The pre-election assessment mission will hold meetings with the election commission, foreign ministry, government organisations, political parties, civil society members and other stakeholders.

The mission is also supposed to meet local and international media organisations and representatives of foreign missions stationed in Dhaka.
The pre-election assessment mission will issue a statement after their visit.

It was learnt that the mission will point out if they have any apprehension about the coming election and will give realistic suggestions if needed.

Earlier last July, a pre-election observation team of the European Union visited Dhaka. Based on the team’s observation, the later EU said it will not be sending a full-fledged observation team to observe the forthcoming election. The organisation informed the EC of their decision in a letter.