“Participatory means the inclusion of all political and social groups that wish to express their interests.”
The European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission believes that an election cannot be defined as “participatory” based solely on voter turnout.
According to the mission, the key element of a participatory election is the involvement of all representative groups within society. This position was outlined on Saturday at a hotel in Dhaka by the Head of Mission, Ivars Ijabs.
Results for 297 seats were announced following Thursday’s election, with a voter turnout of 59.44 percent. Journalists asked the EU observation team how “participatory” the election could be considered, given that the Awami League was excluded from the process.
Responding to the question, Ivars Ijabs said: “Regarding the question about excluding a specific political party from the political process, I can put it this way: we are here to observe the elections. Our interest lies in the electoral process.
“Beyond that, ‘transitional justice’ is an extremely painful and sensitive issue for many countries, including several European nations. However, elections are, of course, a way forward.
“What we have observed in this election is that it was ‘highly competitive,’ and with 2,000 candidates, voters had a broad choice among contestants. In that sense, I believe this election represents ‘a path of progress’ for Bangladeshi democracy.”
Another journalist raised the issue of voter turnout, asking whether the percentage reflected participation from people of all views and backgrounds.
In response, Ijabs said: “We all know that voter turnout in Bangladesh has historically fluctuated — sometimes higher, sometimes lower. In that sense, we see this particular result as somewhere in the middle range. We are not looking at participation purely in percentage terms.
“As you know, voter turnout is declining in many democratic countries, including in Europe. This is a major concern for all democracies. So numbers alone do not tell the whole story.
“The answer to your question lies in whether all relevant groups in society are taking part in the election and whether anyone is being excluded. As I said, participatory means including all political and social groups that wish to express their interests through the election. Therefore, when speaking about a participatory election, voter turnout alone is not the sole determining factor.”
In this election, the Awami League did not participate due to restrictions on political activities, and its party symbol was also excluded from the ballot paper.