The Election Commission has asked the National Citizen Party to choose an electoral symbol by October 7, after the party met all the necessary conditions in the preliminary review of its registration application.
In a letter sent on September 30, the EC secretariat informed the party that its choice, water lily, could not be allocated since it is not included in the approved list of symbols under the Election Conduct Rules, 2008.
The NCP had initially submitted three preferred symbols in order of choice 鈥� water lily, pen and mobile phone. Later, the party shortened the list, seeking water lily as its electoral symbol.
However, the commission said that only the symbols listed in the rules could be assigned to a newly registered party.
Citing section 90B(1)(b) of the Representation of the People Order, 1972, the EC said that registered parties were required to select from the available symbols approved under the regulations.
Accordingly, the NCP has been asked to choose an alternative symbol from a list of 50 options, including computer, sewing machine, kite, football, peacock, deer, helicopter and table clock.
The commission requested the party to select a symbol from the list and to notify the EC in writing by October 7 in order to proceed with the next steps of its registration.
On September 30, EC senior secretary Akhtar Ahmed said that two new political parties, the National Citizen Party and the Bangladesh Jatiya League, were set to receive preliminary registration
from the commission after fulfilling all the required conditions.
Briefing reporters at the EC headquarters at Agargaon in the capital Dhaka on the day, he said that the commission had initially received applications from 143 political parties in response to its call for registration.
Of these, 22 were shortlisted for further scrutiny on the basis of field-level information and detailed review, and following that process, only two parties had met the preliminary requirements.
The EC secretary said that the commission would now publish a notice in newspapers to allow the public to raise objections, if there is any, concerning the two parties.