The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former premier Khaleda Zia on Friday questioned the neutrality of international elections observers during Monday's polls, in which the party faced an embarrassing defeat, according to dpa. "Their observations were never intensive; how could they (foreign observers) claim that the polls were free and fair without visiting majority of polling stations?" Khandaker Delwar Hossain, secretary general of the party, told reporters. More than 250,000 local and international observers monitored the general election, pronouncing it peaceful, credible and fair. The international election observer groups from, amongst others, the United Nations, Commonwealth, European Union, Asia Foundation, National Democratic Institute, International Republican Institute, deployed nearly 1,000 observers in Bangladesh prior, during and after the voting.
