Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many independent election observers (a) his Department and (b) other nations provided for the general election in Bangladesh; and what assessment he has made of the legitimacy of that election.

​In partnership with USAID and the Swiss Development Cooperation, the Department for International Development supported a total of 4542 domestic observers deployed during the Bangladesh Election. The EU sent a two person Election Expert Mission. The Government of Bangladesh refused permission for deployment of 9300 observers from 15 NGOs. On 1 January I released a statement expressing my concern about the conduct of the Bangladesh general election. There have been numerous credible allegations of irregularities, blocks on proper observation and the intimidation of voters. I repeated my concerns regarding the election to the Bangladesh High Commissioner when we met on 10 January. I have urged the Government of Bangladesh to carry out a full, credible and transparent resolution of all complaints related to the conduct of the elections.