US faults Bangladesh as election monitors scrapped

• Sarwar Alam
• 24 December, 2018

By: Sarwar Alam

The United States has urged Bangladesh to do more to ensure a free election, blaming government foot-dragging on issuing visas for the cancelation of an international monitoring mission. The Asian Network for Free Elections, an observation group funded by the US, called off its mission for next Sunday’s vote after Bangladesh did not promptly grant visas and credentials, the State Department said. State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said the United States was “disappointed” by Bangladesh’s “inability” to provide visas in time and called on Dhaka to ensure that local non-governmental organizations receive credentials to monitor the vote. Any democratic election must have “space for peaceful…

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