‘We very much value our trusted partnership with the Election Commission and remain committed to supporting the electoral process’
The United Nations Development Programme has sought apology over its inadvertent comment on the 10th parliamentary election and last upazila elections in Bangladesh, calling it an error that they regret.
Bangladesh Country Director Pauline Tamesis sought the apology in a statement published on the UN body’s website on Monday.
She came up with the statement after several media outlets reported that the UNDP has decided to review its assistant programme with the Election Commission because of its last “unilateral” general elections and controversial local government polls.
She said in the statement: “I apologize to our partners for the misunderstanding. I wish to clarify that the text cited in the media does not represent UNDP’s position on the 10th parliamentary or Upazila elections.
“It seems that the advertisement was published without proper review and approval. This is an error that we regret and we have already taken steps to rectify this mistake.”
Highlighting the UNDP’s long-term commitment to electoral cycle support in Bangladesh, she said: “We very much value our trusted partnership with the Election Commission and remain committed to supporting the electoral process.”
The statement has also made it clear that the UNDP is looking forward to working with the Election Commission beyond the current project’s lifecycle, and will be coordinating closely with the UN Electoral Focal Point on the next phases of support.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
