Days after the announcement of parliamentary elections, experts in US on Sunday called for holding free fair and credible elections.

“It is crucial and important in Bangladesh to hold free Fair and a credible election as it is an imperative measure to restore faith in the country’s democracy,” Bharat Gopalaswamy, Director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council think tank, told Bangla Tribune.

Over the last few years, Bangladesh, he rued, has suffered from reputational concerns in terms of curbing freedom of Speech and expression and jailing opposition leaders.

“So not only is the election important but also the process leading to the elections,” he said as several top US think-tanks have started monitoring the December elections in Bangladesh.          

Aman Thakker, research associate – Wadhwani Chair in US-India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think-tank said that the  big question remains whether the BNP will participate or not.

Its demand for a caretaker government has been rejected by the Awami League. They had made the same demand in 2014, and when it was rejected then, they boycotted the election.

“They have threatened to do so again, and when taken in conjunction with the government’s crackdowns on dissent and the press, there is little hope the election will be fair,” he alleged.

“However, the Awami league will point to the strong economic performance, its tough anti-terrorism stance, and its positive role in the Rohingya crisis during its time in office,” he said.

“Looking at these strategic convergences with India, as well as the Trump administration signaling that human rights is not a top foreign policy priority, the prospects for outside pressure regarding a fair election remain limited,” Thakker told Bangla Tribune.