The Election Commission (EC) has released a preliminary list of names of 68 local election observer agencies ahead of the upcoming 12th parliamentary elections.
If anyone has any claim, objection or complaint against these agencies, they have been asked to inform the EC within 15 days.
If there are no serious allegations against any of these agencies, they will get final registration. If complaints are filed against any of them, the commission will hear them and make a final decision.
In this process, the observer agencies that will get registration will be able to monitor the upcoming elections.
This information was given in a public notice signed by Assistant Director (Public Relations) of Bangladesh Election Commission Md. Asadul Haque on Tuesday.
Earlier in 2018, the EC had registered 118 observer agencies. Those agencies’ five-year term ended on July 11. This time, 199 applications were submitted to the Election Commission within the stipulated time and 11 more applications were submitted to the EC after the stipulated time.
The commission has released a preliminary list of 68 observer agencies for the upcoming elections. At the end of the complaint hearing process, the number is likely to drop further when the final registration is issued.
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EC sources said the system of registration of local observer agencies was introduced in 2008 before the 9th parliamentary election. The EC had registered 138 agencies that year.