Dhaka, Jan 14 (V7N) —The United Nations (UN) will not touch on timelines for Bangladesh's next parliamentary elections as the decision lies with the government and political parties, its Resident Coordinator Gwyn Lewis said today.
"We are not touching on timelines…that's really a decision of the government of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus and political parties to make." she said while responding to a question after the need assessment mission's meeting with Foreign Secretary Md Jashim Uddin at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Asked about BNP's desire to have elections by August, the UNRC said that is really a decision to be taken by political parties and the government.
She also said they will meet every political party that they can think of in Bangladesh as the assessment process begins in terms of its technical support to the Election Commission ahead of the next parliamentary elections.
"As many as possible...they [need assessment mission] will meet every political party we can think of in Bangladesh."
The UNRC said her colleagues will assess what makes sense in terms of what the UN can offer as the Election Commission wrote to the UN requesting technical support.
Lewis also said they are talking about parliamentary elections, not the local government elections, as the EC's request for technical support came for the national election.
She said her colleagues are on a mission here at the request of the Election Commission which wrote the UN asking technical support for the upcoming elections.
The need assessment mission is looking into areas where the UN can support the election environment.
She said the team will be in Chattogram tomorrow and they will have various meetings with the stakeholders in the coming days followed by a feedback session with the Election Commission.
After coming back from Chattogram, they will meet civil society, academia, political parties and every stakeholder who will be involved in the election, said the UNRC, adding that they will have a very busy schedule within the ten days of their engagements.
The need assessment process will be completed within ten days following talks with the commission and other stakeholders, including civil society, academicians and political parties.
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