Ghana's ex-president leads Commonwealth observers

The Commonwealth and the European Union are among the leading international organisations set to deploy large teams of poll observers for Bangladesh's upcoming general election and referendum on the July reform charter, scheduled for February 12.
Former President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo will lead the 14-member Commonwealth Observer Group, Commonwealth Secretary-General Hon. Shirley Botchwey announced in London earlier this month, the CA Office said Thursday.
President Akufo-Addo will be joined by experts from across the Commonwealth with professional backgrounds in politics, law, media, gender, and election administration.
The Observer Group will be supported by a Secretariat team led by Linford Andrews, Head and Adviser of the Electoral Support Section.
In a recent statement, the Commonwealth said the Observer Group's mandate is to independently assess whether the electoral process and referendum are conducted in a credible, transparent, and inclusive manner.
"The group will report on the conduct of the electoral process in line with the standards to which Bangladesh has committed itself, including its national laws," the statement reads.
The Commonwealth Observer Group includes Jeffrey Salim Waheed, former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, David John Francis, former Foreign Minister of Sierra Leone, Ras Adiba Mohd Radzi, former senator of Malaysia, as well as representatives from Antigua and Barbuda, Canada, Fiji, Mauritius, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Uganda, the United Kingdom, and Zambia.
The Commonwealth announcement followed confirmation from the European Union that around 200 observers from the 27 EU member-states, along with Norway, Switzerland, and Canada, would join the EU's Election Observation Mission (EOM) in Bangladesh. The EU EOM will be led by Chief Observer Ivars Ijabs, a Member of the European Parliament from Latvia.
It will include at least seven other Members of the European Parliament --Lukas Mandl (Austria), Loránt Vincze (Romania), Tomáš Zdechovský (Czechia), Leire Pajín (Spain), ?erban Dimitrie Sturdza (Romania), Michael McNamara (Ireland), and Catarina Vieira (Netherlands). They will visit Bangladesh between February 10 and February 14.
The EU mission began its activities with the arrival of a core team on December 29. The core team comprises 11 analysts, supported by logistical and security experts, and is assessing all stages of the electoral process, including legal, political, electoral, and media aspects. In addition, 56 long-term observers were deployed on January 17 across all administrative divisions. They are monitoring electoral developments in their respective areas and reporting to the core team in Dhaka. Shortly before election day, they will be joined by 90 short-term observers.
On the election day, the mission will be further reinforced by observers from diplomatic missions accredited to Bangladesh and Members of the European Parliament, who will observe voting, counting, and the tabulation of results.

mirmostafiz@yahoo.com