Zafar Sobhan: What further role does NDI contemplate playing in the electoral process here?

Mike Moore: NDI has been on the ground with staff and research in Bangladesh for many years now and intends to be for many years to come, and there is likely to be a major delegation with international credibility at the time of the election. Having said that, there are also going to be other international delegations coming. The Commonwealth and the EU will do their own pre-election assessments, and they will be speaking to us about our report.

We wanted to express that the alarm bells are ringing here of the possibility of things going wrong. I suspect another delegation, if they find the same problems we have identified, and these have not been corrected in the next few weeks, the criticism will be quite intense.

We are saying that there are serious problems which need to be addressed and can be addressed -- but next month is too late. This has to start immediately.

So there is nothing wrong that cannot be fixed?

That's right. There have been problems before. But that doesn't make this right. This is a new game. It has got to be better. We think, for instance, that the electoral list can be substantially improved.

We are a bit confused as to the Election Commission. The Election Commission does not recognize the problem. If they think they haven't got a problem, how can they fix it? And if they think they don't have a problem, they are the only people we have met who think so.

Now, if you have problem, how do you fix it? You take corrective action. Part of the action is building confidence. How? You meet with the opposition. The ones represented in parliament. Meeting 110 parties is no good. Civil society and the media want to help. And we want to encourage civil society and the media to help, to publicize what needs to be done. We found a lot of people who want to help and who can help.

And the chief election commissioner needs a lot of help. But if he won't take action, if he thinks everything is OK, and he is not listening, something bad is going to happen.

It will never be perfect, But the cleaner you can get the list, the easier it will be to monitor on election day. Building confidence. Taking corrective action. That's what needs to be done right now.

Is there time to fix the voter list?

Only just. Only just. We're talking weeks.

If there is no corrective action by the end of the month would it be too late?

I would have thought that it would have to start as soon as you can. Obviously, you can't have a change in everything, but steps can be taken. We would expect to see a change in attitude, in behaviour.

There will be terrible costs to Bangladesh if this is not done with dignity and coherence. And it can be.

The world is watching. If things go badly, there are all these people out there in other parliaments who will want to take what they think is appropriate action. Sanctions. Tariffs. Garment exports. It's a political world.

The report says NDI will not certify the election process as fair or unfair. But will NDI be proffering an opinion? A report?

Make no mistake, this is a wonderfully open world. People are interested. The world watches these things.

So what happens if things are not fixed?

I can't predict at this point. But let me say that it would be enormously harmful and potentially dangerous to the stability and progress of the country if any major party decided to boycott the election.

Therefore confidence has to be built so that there is no reason for a boycott. Look, it has happened before. There are still two months. No reason it can't happen again. But if the same things are being said in two months' time, I would be very worried.

Page five of the report states: "In the absence of a strong, corrective, and urgent response, confidence in the chief election commissioner will continue to deteriorate to the point that he should not continue his duties."

You can argue whether it should be "should" or "could" -- but it is hard to see how he could walk down the street -- he is a man of dignity -- with his head held high, if he didn't. But bluntly, he didn't recognize the problem. He didn't seem to welcome engaging with other political parties or civil society. He was dismissive in the media of there being a problem. It is hard to fix something if you don't think you have a problem.

This still can be improved. There is time for things to be corrected, to bring in the opposition and civil society and build confidence in the process. I am sure the chief election commissioner, who is a dignified man and a justice, would not want his name to be in a dark corner of Bangladesh's history.

Is it not possible to hold a credible election with the present voter list?

You're a good journalist and that's a hard question. I'll say this. Unless the list is improved, it will make it difficult for people to perceive a fair result.

What one would do if one were the election commission or the government is to have a time-line. By this time, we need this done. The caretaker is coming. We need consultation and consensus.

It is not just the law and the constitution -- it how you deal with it. It is good faith.

Same for the opposition. It is not good enough for them to say they weren't consulted. There are always reason you can choose not to go to a meeting. Notice wasn't given in time. But there has to be good faith.

The caretaker government doesn't have a mandate for wholesale changes. There is a time line. It must be respected.

The Commonwealth and EU are sending serious delegations. EU delegation is here now the other one will be here in three weeks. We should know something by then.

We will see whether the chief election commissioner has got the message. We have been very polite and diplomatic. But if nothing has happened, then others will respond to that.

A good journalist would go down to the Election Commission and see what he says this week and what he says next week, to see if the chief election commissioner has got the message.