US will send observers to Bangladesh

The United States will send 12 teams of observers and fund thousands of domestic observers to monitor an election in Bangladesh it hopes will be free and fair, a senior official at the US embassy in Dhaka said.

Amid opposition concerns about rigging in the 30 December general election, there has been speculation about US plans for it, especially after the European Union this week said it would not send observers, nor comment on the vote or result.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is seeking a third straight term. Her old rival, Khaleda Zia, who leads the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, is in jail after being convicted on charges she says were politically motivated. Scores of BNP workers have also been detained. The BNP boycotted the last election, in 2014, as unfair, but has said it will take part this time, though it is seeking international monitors of polls it says it believes will be flawed. The United States is sending a dozen teams, each of about two observers, who will fan out to most parts of the country, William Moeller, political officer at the US embassy in Dhaka. “The Bangladesh government has emphasized that it plans to hold a free and fair election,” Moeller said this week. “We welcome that and are providing funding for election observers who hope to see such an outcome.” Moeller referred to reports of harassment and intimidation before recent city corporation elections, which he said may have suppressed voter turnout.