Iftekhar meets top EU official over polls mission

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Foreign adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury has met European commissioner for external relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner in New York Monday with a view to securing a European Union (EU) polls observation mission to Bangladesh, reports dnews24.com.
The adviser told the news agency that the commissioner, during their 40-minute meeting, commended the measures taken by the caretaker government to date and looked to continued interactions as events unfolded.
The EU does not in principle send polls observers to monitor elections held under a state of emergency.
"I explained the latest developments in the implementation of the roadmap leading to the elections on December 18," the foreign adviser told the news agency Tuesday from New York.
"We discussed the possibilities of the European Commission (EC) sending an observation mission to monitor the next parliamentary polls."
"I also explained that the chief adviser had announced in his recent address to the nation that the state of emergency would be relaxed as necessary to hold an election that was free, fair and credible", the adviser said.
Iftekhar said the caretaker government would continue to press for the EU observation mission.
Meanwhile, the European Commission's mission in Dhaka has termed Iftekhar's talks with the commissioner 'constructive'.
"They had a very constructive dialogue. The adviser discussed polls related issues with the commissioner," Charles Whiteley, first secretary to the delegation of the EC to Dhaka, told the news agency Tuesday.
"The commissioner would take a decision on sending polls observation mission to Bangladesh by middle of October," he said.
The first secretary said the EC required six weeks to field polls observation mission.
The EC's decision on dispatching polls observation mission is a gradual process, he pointed out.
The commission sends an exploratory mission to weigh the political situation of a country. The exploratory mission holds talks with different stakeholders to judge whether an election-friendly atmosphere exists in the country.
The EC's commissioner for external relations takes a final decision on the basis of a report made by the exploratory mission.
The EC's exploratory mission came to Bangladesh on June 15 for 7 days, to meet with government officials, political leaders, Election Commission officials, journalists, civil society and NGO representatives.
The exploratory mission submitted its report to the EC in August. But the local EC mission has not made public the recommendations of the exploratory mission.