The National Citizen Party (NCP) has refused to choose any electoral symbol from the list sent by the Election Commission (EC) and instead renewed its demand for the inclusion of the ‘Water Lily’ symbol in the EC’s official list.

In a letter emailed to the EC Secretary on Tuesday, NCP Convener Md Nahid Islam urged the Commission to amend the Election Conduct Rules to include the ‘Water Lily’ in it.

He expressed hope that the EC would allocate one of the three desired symbols --‘Water Lily,’ ‘White Water Lily’ or ‘Red Water Lily’—for their party.

The EC, however, has already decided not to allocate the ‘Water Lily’ symbol to any political party.

The Commission informed the NCP that although the party has been granted registration, the symbol cannot be assigned as it is not included in the Election Conduct Rules.

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Talking to UNB on Tuesday, NCP Joint Member Secretary Zahirul Islam Musa said the reply to the EC’s letter, signed by our Convener, has been sent to the EC Secretary via email.

“NCP has not chosen any of the 50 symbols provided by the EC. Instead we asked to incorporate ‘Water Lily’ in its list and allocate for us,” he said.

The NCP also printed several samples of its desired ‘Water Lily’ symbol in the letter, said Musa.

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Ahead of the 13th parliamentary election, the Commission has decided to register two new political parties, including the NCP and would issue a public notification in the newspaper to check whether there are any objections to their registration.

On September 30 last, the EC sent a letter to the NCP, asking it to select one electoral symbol from a list of 50 and to inform the Commission of its choice within a week.