No findings of polls 'blueprint': Commonwealth
Commonwealth observer group for Bangladesh parliamentary elections today said they did not find any evidence to justify BNPs claim that Mondays parliament election was held under a 'blueprint'.
Head of the Commonwealth election observer group Cassam Uteem today came up with this view at a press conference at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel while giving an official statement on the ninth parliamentary elections.
We dont have any evidence of election engineering. I believe that other national and international observers also did not find such evidence, he said.
Responding to a question, Uteem hoped that the opposition in the new parliament would play their democratic role for the welfare of the society with constructive criticism. Our hope is that winner and losers will work together for the country, he said.
In the statement, chief of the observer team said the 29th Decembers parliamentary elections have been of crucial importance for Bangladesh and an integral element in the on-going efforts to improve democratic governance in the country.
As a result of the elections, democratic life in the country can be resumed and the parliament re-constituted, nearly two years after the imposition of the state of emergency, he added.
The statement said the elections had been credible, meeting many of the key benchmarks for democratic elections, and represented a crucial step in the continuing effort to strengthen democracy and improve governance in the country.
Uteem said: It is a time for leaders on all sides to grasp this opportunity and display statesmanship, with political forces, whether they are a future government or opposition, working in a spirit of mutual respect and co-operation to address the challenges facing the country.
In their key findings, the Commonwealth observer team found that the elections in Bangladesh for the ninth parliament have been competitive and inclusive, with many of the basic rights and freedoms provided, once the state of emergency had been fully lifted.
We feel the intention and outcome have been to achieve as credible an election as possible in an extremely polarised political environment, Uteem said.
He said that the election has been credible and met many of the benchmarks for democratic elections to which Bangladesh has committed itself.
He mentioned that the state of emergency did impact negatively on the environment in the build up to the election, limiting basic rights and freedoms, including the ability of parties and individuals to associate freely and placing limitations of freedom of expression.
During the campaign there were reports of some clashes between party activists, particularly in the build-up to election day, though thankfully these were of a limited and isolated in nature, he said.
Indicating some incidents in some areas and some complaints filed with the Election Commission, Uteem said the Commonwealth observer team found that people peacefully turned out to vote in extremely large numbers, the right to vote was provided for and people were free to express their will and cast vote in secret.
