The Election Commission has invited 34 member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Association of World Election Bodies and the Election Management Bodies of South Asia and Forum of the Election Management Bodies of South Asia to observe elections in Bangladesh slated for January 7.

Confirming that matter, EC additional secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath at his office at Nirbachan Bhaban in Dhaka on Wednesday told reporters that observers from the countries will come to Bangladesh at their own cost.

The commission will bear their local travel and accommodation expenses after their arrival, he said.

‘Election Commissions of different countries of the world have been invited to observe the 12th national parliament election. If the election commissioner or any officer of the commission of the countries comes to observe the election, the commission will bear the cost of their stay, food and travel in this country. It is a courtesy,’ he said.

Apart from this, he said that the observers of various organisations including other international observers and journalists will have to monitor the election at their own expense.

The SAARC and FEMBoSA countries on the invitation list are India, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

The A-WEB member countries are Australia, Canada, France, Georgia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Russia, South Korea, Egypt, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, Senegal and Thailand.

The 10 invited OIC countries are Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Tunisia, Brunei, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Apart from this, Japan, China and Singapore have been invited as single countries.