General Elections: UN is closely monitoring situation in Bangladesh

The United Nations (UN) is closely monitoring the situation in Bangladesh where the general parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place on December 30, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on Friday.

"We are following the situation closely. It is very important-as a matter of principle-that anywhere there are elections, that they are concluded freely and fairly: and that space is given for people to express themselves," Dhaka Tribune quoted Dujarric as saying.

The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allies had demanded that the 11th parliamentary elections should be deferred by a month as they had yet to decide whether they should participate in the elections or not. Consequently, the Bangladesh Election Commission changed the date from December 23 to 30.

To ensure a free and fair election, more than 600,000 security personnel from police, Border Guard Bangladesh, Rapid Action Battalion, Coast Guard, Ansar, and Village Defence Party, would be deployed at polling stations.

Almost 104.2 million registered voters will cast their votes at about 40,000 polling stations to elect their representatives from across the country.