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NDI

The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.

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In an op-ed for the Melbourne Age newspaper, Bob McMullan, the Australian Secretary for International Development Assistance, details his observation of the Dec. 29 parliamentary elections in Bangladesh as a member of NDI’s international observation delegation.

McMullan writes:

As soon as I arrived in the country, I knew I had made the right decision in giving up Christmas with my family to observe the crucially important elections held in Bangladesh on December 29. I was even more certain when a young man at the Railway Government Primary School in Sylhet district, in north-east Bangladesh, stepped out of the line of voters to tell me: “We are very pleased you have come to look at our elections.”

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  • Pictured above: Women standing in line to vote in Bangladesh during the Dec. 29, 2008 parliamentary elections.

    Published on Jan. 9, 2009