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Download PDF Election Working Group (EWG), an alliance of NGOs that monitors polls, will not undertake any national-level election monitoring initiative if all the major political parties do not participate in the upcoming election.
The decision was taken yesterday following the directives of its donors, said the group’s Media and Communication Specialist Javeed Ahsan. “There is no use monitoring a ‘one-sided’ election, which it is going to be,” he told The Daily Star last night.
A press release of the group said that it will refrain from monitoring the upcoming polls “if the present political situation prevails and the caretaker government, election commission, and political parties fail to establish conditions conducive to credible polls, and the parliamentary election proceeds on January 22 without the full participation of all major political parties.”
The group has suspended all voter and civic education activities, but will continue to assess the present situation, with an emphasis on political-related violence. It will sit for discussing its prospective role soon, the release added.
The 34-member EWG was formed in August last year with a mission to contribute to a peaceful, free and fair elections in Bangladesh and to help foster a genuine culture of democracy and the highest standards of integrity and accountability of governance.
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