Today, September 28 (Sunday) at 12:00 noon, a high-level delegation of the European Union Election Observation Mission, currently visiting Dhaka, held an important meeting with Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami at the Bashundhara office of Jamaat Ameer Dr. Shafiqur Rahman.

Among the EU Election Observation Mission’s high-level delegation were Team Leader and Electoral & Political Expert Mr. Mette Bakken, Legal Expert Manuel Wally, and Deputy Head of Delegation and European Union Delegation to Bangladesh Ms. Beiba Zarina. On behalf of Jamaat-e-Islami, party’s Secretary General and former MP Professor Mia Golam Porwar, Central Executive Council Member Mobarak Hossain, Dhaka City North Jamaat’s Medical Thana Ameer Dr. S. M. Khaliduzzaman, and Jamaat Ameer’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Professor Dr. Mahmudul Hasan accompanied Jamaat Ameer.

Following the meeting, in a press briefing, Professor Mia Golam Porwar told journalists that the EU delegation held discussions with the Jamaat Ameer in a cordial atmosphere. They stated that their main objective in this visit is to exchange views with political parties and relevant stakeholders regarding the upcoming national parliamentary elections. They plan to conduct observation activities in all 64 districts during the election and will send one representative to each district. They also informed Jamaat Ameer that a detailed report of their observations would be published following the elections.

Jamaat Ameer Dr. Shafiqur Rahman told the delegation that beyond merely observing the elections, EU’s technical support is necessary to ensure a free, fair, acceptable, and neutral election.

The EU Election Observation Team inquired about expatriates’ voting rights. The Ameer of Jamaat responded that Jamaat was the first to raise the demand for more than 10 million expatriates’ voting rights. In this regard, Jamaat-e-Islami had submitted letters to the Election Commission. The Election Commission and the government have accepted this and have already initiated processes to enable expatriates to cast their votes.

The EU Election Observation Team also asked what the core agenda would be if Jamaat-e-Islami were to take responsibility for the state in the future. The Ameer of Jamaat mentioned three points:

First: Reforming the education system so that citizens may become qualified in all respects—moral, productive, technical, skilled, material, and humane.

Second: Establishing a corruption-free society. Corruption has gripped every level of society. If Jamaat-e-Islami assumes responsibility, it will build a corruption-free society.

Third: Social Justice. Our society is facing a severe crisis of social justice. In this regard, Jamaat Ameer highlighted how, over the last 15 years, due to the fascist government, people have been deprived, persecuted, and Jamaat’s political offices were shut down, dissenting voices were oppressed, and he himself along with leaders and workers were arrested on multiple occasions. He recalled that in 2023, when the European Union Election Observation Team came, Jamaat’s Ameer, Secretary General, and many others were in prison. On behalf of the party, Nayeb-e-Ameer Dr. Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher met with the EU Election Observation delegation at that time.

Jamaat Ameer further stated that for the past one and a half decades, democracy has been suppressed, the opposition has been persecuted, and Jamaat-e-Islami has not been allowed to exercise its constitutional and democratic rights. We are prepared to participate in the upcoming February elections, but the condition is that the July National Declaration and National Charter must be given legal status, and in light of that, the election must be free, fair, and acceptable.

The Secretary General further said that finally, Jamaat Ameer extended thanks and greetings to the European Union delegation. The European Union informed that they would visit Bangladesh again before the election schedule is announced and would hold another dialogue.