Tasmiah Nuhiya Ahmed of DOT :
In the 11th parliamentary election, around 42,000 polling stations will be set up for more than 104 million voters. Around 17,000 with only 146 international observers,will monitor the upcoming 11th parliamentary election, slated for December 30.
The Representation of People’s Order 1972 (R.P.O. 1972) under Article 2 (viiib) provides that “election observer” means a person permitted in writing by the Commission or by any person authorized by it in this behalf to observe any election under this Order, and includes a group of such observers.
Article 91 (C) of R.P.O. 1972 states that the Election Commission (EC) may permit in writing any person, whether national or foreign, as an election observer who is in no way associated with or affiliated to, any political party or contesting candidate and who is not known for his sympathy, direct or indirect, for any particular political ideology, creed or cause or for any manifesto, program, aims or object of any political party or contesting candidate.
An election observer may, in accordance with the guidelines issued by the EC, observe any poll by staying, nearabout any polling station or entering into, with the permission of the Presiding Officer, any polling booth or polling station or by being present at the counting of votes or consolidation of the results of the count. No election observer shall be allowed to observe the poll as aforesaid, unless he displays the permit of the EC bearing his name, nationality and photograph attested by the EC. An election observer may be asked by any returning officer or presiding officer to leave any constituency or polling station, if he is found indulging in any activities not befitting any neutral election observer or interfering with the polling process or with the work of the election authorities in any manner. Any action taken under the abovementioned clause shall be reported to the EC forthwith. An election observer may submit a report to the EC or the returning officer on his observation about the fairness or otherwise of the poll, discipline and situation inside and outside the polling station, counting of votes, consolidation of the results of the count, compliance with the provisions of this R.P.O. 1972 or the rules or the Code of Conduct, or on any other matter relating to election.
The election observers are obligated to perform their duties neutrally and for that they need co-operation from EC. We hope that the observers in this upcoming election will be able to perform neutrally.
The writer is Executive Editor, Daily Our Time