By Ashoke Raj
Dhaka [Bangladesh], January 7 : Endorsing the 12th Parliamentary elections of Bangladesh on Sunday, a former member of the European Parliament, Paulo Casaca, said he was very impressed with the polls in the nation, adding that the voting procedures in general are very good.
Paulo Casaca is also the founder and Executive Director of South Asia Democratic Forum.
Speaking toon Sunday, Casaca said, "...I was very positively impressed with what I saw today. I saw voting procedures that, in general, are very good. They are really up to the standards."
"Some of the points are very ingenious. Some others could be improved but I think that especially there is a very big electoral, procedural democratic machine that is in place, that has to be worked with, that has to be respected, and that can produce wonders. That's what I think..." he added.
On whether he interacted with the voters there, Casaca said, "Well, I have to say that today I did not have the opportunity to engage. I mean, it would not be proper anyway, because it's a voting day."
"I'm not going to discuss what are the political opinions of people, but of course, I've been discussing before the election with many people, many organizations. Well, I think that, yes, most of the people think there should be BNP in the election to turn it more clear and lively and to have a possibility of choosing one thing or the other," he added.
Casaca was the EU's designated observer for the 12th national parliamentary elections of Bangladesh on Sunday, in his capacity as the executive director of the South Asia Democratic Forum.
After the daylong vote, he spoke with the press at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in the capital, according to the Dhaka Tribune.
The polls that took place in the country today, were boycotted by the opposition, led by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
The voting began at 8 am at 261,912 polling stations in 42,024 voting centres and continued until 4 pm.
Overall, 27 per cent votes were cast in the first seven hours, from 8 am to 3 pm (local time), Md. Jahangir Alam, secretary of the Election Commission (EC), said during a news conference at the Agargaon Election Commission (EC) headquarters, according to Dhaka Tribune.
Some 800,000 security personnel were kept on election duty to maintain the electoral atmosphere by checking for violations of codes of conduct throughout the country.
They include 38,154 Army personnel, 2,827 Navy personnel (19 districts), 45,185 (1,158 platoons) BGB personnel, 2520 (75 platoons) Coast Guard personnel, 600 RAB teams and 95 RAB reserve teams, 184,959 police personnel, and 558,500 Ansar men. Furthermore, 653 judicial judges and 2,076 executive magistrates were deployed in the field to penalise violations of the election code of conduct, the Dhaka Tribune reported.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to win a fourth straight term in the absence of the main opposition BNP, which on Saturday began a 48-hour nationwide strike against the 'illegal government' amidst violence and a crackdown on protesters, according to Al Jazeera.
The Supreme Court on December 27 provided clearance for the Election Commission (EC) to proceed with the general elections.
The poll panel made thorough arrangements ahead of the 12th national elections. As many as 127 foreign observers will track the election process to assess the election's fairness.
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