27 August 2001

Dhaka, Bangladesh: Twenty-four UN Volunteers from 11 countries today began assignments as European Union (EU) long-term observers (LTOs) in the run-up to Bangladesh's parliamentary elections on 1 October.

Recruited and fielded by the Bonn-based UN Volunteers programme (UNV) for the EU and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Volunteers will observe the conduct of voter registration and pre-election campaigning.

The LTOs will communicate regularly with returning officers and observe the process of poll preparation, training of electoral officers, processing of complaints and communication with political parties, candidates and national election monitors. They will also observe the fairness of political and related new coverage by the State-owned media (television, radio and printed media).

The UN Volunteers, from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, will liaise with election officials on follow-up to voter registration, printing of voters list and public and voter education programmes.

After polling, the LTOs will observe the final tabulation of the vote. They will submit fortnightly reports on their activities to the EU Observation Team in Bangladesh. The European Union, as part of its support to the electoral process at the request of the Government of Bangladesh, is funding the long-term observer mission under a project supported by UNDP.

Additionally, they will prepare the ground for 18 UN Volunteers who will take up EU short-term observer assignments starting the week before the election.

The parliamentary elections will also determine Bangladesh's next prime minister. The leader of the party holding the most seats in the 300-member Jatiya Sangsad, or Parliament, will become prime minister. Some 75 million Bangladeshis -- more than half the country's population -- are listed as eligible voters. Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina vacated office July 15 and parliament was dissolved ahead of the elections, the procedure required under Bangladeshi law.