Dhaka, March 17 -- The quality of the January election was undermined by incidents of state, ruling party, and opposition violence, as well as a pre-election environment characterised by increased political polarisation, violence among political actors, contracting civic space, and worsening freedoms of expression and association, according to a report prepared by the joint mission of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and International Republican Institute (IRI).

The Technical Assessment Mission (TAM) of NDI and IRI, deployed to Bangladesh to monitor potential electoral violence conditions before, during, and after the country's January 7, 2024 parliamentary elections, released its final report on Sunday.

The mission found that th...