The United States will not take sides in Bangladesh’s 13th National Parliamentary Election, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Brent Christensen has said, stressing that the outcome of the polls will be determined solely by the people of the country.

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday (28 January) after a meeting with the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) at the Election Commission (EC) Secretariat in Agargaon, Dhaka, Ambassador Christensen said the US would work with whoever is elected through the democratic process.

“The people of this country will decide the outcome of the election, and the United States will work with those who emerge victorious,” he said.

The ambassador also clarified that the United States would not send any official joint observer mission to monitor the election. However, he noted that voting would be observed privately at four locations without the cooperation of the Election Commission. “There will be no official observers from the United States,” he added.

Later, Election Commission Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said the US Embassy would independently observe voting in four areas—Dhaka, Chattogram, Khulna and Sylhet—without EC support. He said the observations would be reported to the US government, but no official observer team would be deployed for the election.

Akhtar Ahmed further said the US delegation sought information regarding the postal ballot system, the electoral code of conduct and how it is being implemented in the field. They also enquired about the overall electoral environment, including law and order arrangements.

The meeting between Chief Election Commissioner A M M Nasir Uddin and Ambassador Christensen began at around 11:50am at the Election Commission office in Agargaon.

The three-member US delegation was led by Ambassador Christensen and included political officers David Mu and Firoz Ahmed.

Brent Christensen arrived in Bangladesh on 12 January and is serving as the 19th United States Ambassador to the country.