United Nations, Nov. 22 : United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has set up a high-level team to scrutinize the staging of parliamentary elections in Bangladesh next month.

According to a China View report, the panel has been tasked with assessing the preparations and conduct of the elections through visits to Bangladesh before and during the elections.

Parliamentary polls are slated to take place on December 18, and the country''s caretaker government had asked Ban to set up a high-level panel as part of efforts to ensure the elections are free and fair.

On Sunday the three-member panel begins its first visit to the South Asian nation, and expects to return for about a week around the time of the election, before reporting back to Ban with its key findings and recommendations.

Francesc Vendrell, the secretary-general''s former personal representative for Afghanistan and European Union envoy to the same country, will head the panel. The other members are Bhojraj Pokharel, Nepal''s chief election commissioner, and Aracelly Santana, the former deputy director of the United Nations Electoral Assistance Division. (ANI)