Foreign and local election observers on Sunday said that the 13th Jatiya Sangsad elections in Bangladesh were largely peaceful, orderly, and safe despite some incidents of violence.
The Asian Network for Free Elections and four Bangladesh-based non-governmental organisations disclosed their findings in separate interim reports at press conferences held at a city hotel.
The ANFREL deployed an election observation team of 22 observers in 46 districts, while the four NGOs deployed 260 trained observers across the country.
ANFREL chairperson Rohana Hettiarachchi said that the overall conduct of the elections was satisfactory considering the country’s political reality.
However, observers noted influence of money in election campaigning and shortcomings in complaint handling by the authorities during the election period.
‘In some cases, it was difficult for voters to reach polling booths,’ she said, adding that election camps of political parties were seen set up just outside polling stations. She recommended ensuring transparency in election expenditure, promptly addressing election-related complaints and making polling stations more accessible in the future.
She also hoped that legal and policy mechanisms could be strengthened to increase the participation of women and youths in elections.
ANFREL executive director Brizza Rosales said that the overall election administration was effective, while she suggested that election costs should be more realistic.
Responding to a question, she said that a 60 per cent voter turnout was significant. The final report would be published after several months, she added.
The four NGOs — Odhikar, Rural and Urban Poor’s Partner for Social Advancement, Bangladesh Society for the Change and Advocacy Nexus and Aarshi Trust — monitored the election with funding from the European Union.
The NGOs described the overall election environment as satisfactory but placed several observations for taking measues.
Odhikar programme coordinator Korban Ali said that they had documented incidents of pre-election, election-day and post-election violence.
At least three people were killed and over 100 injured in post-election violence, while 45 violent incidents were reported in 18 districts on the polling day.
He recommended fair investigations into all the incidents and ensuring justice for the victims.
B-SCAN executive director Salma Mahbub said that people with disabilities had limited access to polling stations as many booths were located in multi-storied buildings without adequate accessibility.
‘Many visually impaired voters returned home without casting their votes,’ she also said.
She added that they had raised the issue with the Election Commission before the polls, but no effective measures were taken. She recommended the introduction of postal voting for people with disabilities.
RUPSA director Mustafizur Rahman said that a sense of insecurity had prevailed among minority voters before the election.
He said that 4.29 per cent of the polling centre officials were found to be unfriendly towards minority voters. However, he added, the election day itself was largely calm and peaceful.
The presence of law enforcement personnel at polling stations was satisfactory, he observed.
Aarshi Trust research fellow Nafisa Raihana said that the organisation monitored social media accounts of election candidates, activists, and journalists and found instances of gender-based harassment online.
‘Thirty-seven per cent of the comments made on posts by female [JS] candidates contained clear gender-based or sexual harassment,’ she said.
She alleged that many of the online attacks targeting female candidates appeared to be coordinated.
