The National Citizen Party (NCP) on Thursday reiterated its call to the Election Commission to allocate ‘Water Lily’ as its electoral symbol.
The party also demanded that the Commission remove other national emblems, including the ‘Sheaf of Paddy’ and the ‘Star’, from the list of election symbols if their request is not granted.
Two options are there before the Election Commission now — either cancel paddy sheaf, star, golden fiber (symbol), or give Water Lily (to NCP),” NCP Chief Coordinator Nasir Uddin Patwary told reporters after a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin at Nirbachan Bhaban in the capital.
Patwary led a three-member NCP delegation in the meeting that lasted for two and a half hours. EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed was also present at the meeting. Two other NCP delegation members are NCP Joint Convener Khaled Saifullah and NCP Joint Member Secretary Zahirul Islam Musa.
The NCP chief coordinator said they will accept registration from the Election Commission without the ‘Water Lily’ symbol.
“We’ve made it clear that NCP will not receive registration without the Water Lily symbol. We’ll wait for a month,” he said.
Patwary said they believe there is no legal barrier to include Water Lily in the list of electoral symbols, adding that there is the hand of an “invisible force” that obstructs the process.
“We see neither legal nor political barriers to getting Water Lily. We are optimistic that we’ll get it. The Election Commission, however, remained silent on this issue. Since they didn’t respond, we assume they have consented to our proposal,” he added.
The NCP leader also cautioned the Commission against playing a ‘hide-and-seek’ game over the issue. If the Commission refuses to allocate the symbol, it must explain the reasons as a constitutional body, he added.
NCP Joint Convener Khaled Saifullah said now the EC has a move to incorporate the youths who will turn 18 years by October 31, 2025 in the electoral rolls so that they could exercise their franchise in the 13th parliamentary election.
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In this regard, he said the NCP demanded the EC to ensure that all the youths who will turn 18 years even on the balloting day to be included in the voter lists before the next election.
NCP Joint Member Secretary Zahirul Islam Musa said they raised questions about the EC’s decision to award registration to Bangladesh Jatiya League that has no charter and head office in the mentioned address, though it has not fulfilled the registration conditions.
He said the officers who investigate their head office and other conditions must be brought to punishment.