Around 500 Foreign Observers, Journalists to Monitor Elections

Around 500 foreign election observers and journalists are expected to monitor the upcoming 12 February polls, Election Commission (EC) Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said on Thursday.

The invited guests will be accommodated at a hotel in Dhaka, he added during a briefing at the EC headquarters.

The EC is using two approaches to invite foreign participants: selective invitations and open calls. So far, 78 observers and 50 journalists have confirmed their participation.

Akhtar Ahmed noted that, based on current trends, the number of foreign participants is likely to rise and reach around 500 by election day.

Among them, 56 members of the European Union (EU) delegation are already in Bangladesh, with around 250 more expected in the coming days. Additionally, 10 observers are coming from the Commonwealth Secretariat and nine from Turkey.