The Election Commission has announced that more than 55,000 observers from within the country and about 500 from abroad are being appointed to monitor the upcoming 13th National Parliamentary Election and related referendum.
Election Commissioner Brigadier General (retd) Abul Fazal Md. Sanaullah made the announcement at a briefing with heads of diplomatic missions, representatives of various UN agencies and senior government officials at a hotel in the capital on Sunday. The Election Commission Secretariat later issued an official press release in this regard.
According to the commission, a total of 55,454 domestic observers will observe the election process through 81 registered domestic observation organizations. In addition, about 500 foreign observers from various countries and international organizations will participate in the election observation.
The briefing said that 51 political parties are participating in this year’s election and the total number of candidates is 1,994, of which 256 are independent candidates. Voting will be held on Thursday, February 12, from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm, without interruption.
According to the Election Commission’s decision, voting will be conducted in transparent ballot boxes using ballot papers. The Commission hopes that the presence of domestic and foreign observers will help increase the transparency and acceptability of the electoral process.