Japan welcomes peaceful polls, note some irregularities

The Election observer team of Japan has said that although some irregularities were reported in the general election, Japan welcomes that overall, the election was generally conducted peacefully.

"The election process was conducted in accordance with procedures. On the other hand, we regret that there were incidents of violence with casualties in the process leading up to the general election," the Japanese election monitoring team, however, the Japanese Embassy in Dhaka has conveyed the observation with media on Wednesday.

Japan has sent a 13-member election monitoring team to monitor the 12th Parliamentary election of Bangladesh.
"Japan hopes that Bangladesh, as a strategic partner, will make progress in its efforts for further development as a democratic nation. Japan intends to continue to support Bangladesh for its development and prosperity, and further develop the bilateral relationship," the Embassy release said.

From Japan, an election observer mission headed by Mr. WATANABE Masato, former Ambassador to Bangladesh, consisting of officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Japan in Bangladesh as well as an outside expert, conducted monitoring activities on site, the release added.