Top leaders of the National Citizen Party (NCP) have said they will not compromise on their demand for the ‘Shapla’ (water lily) as their electoral symbol, rejecting the Election Commission’s newly offered ‘Shapla Kali’ (water lily bud).
“The Election Commission has given us the ‘Shapla Kali’ symbol in the new gazette. We fail to understand the rationale behind this decision. However, when it comes to the matter of ‘Shapla’, we remain uncompromising,” NCP Chief Coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary said while addressing a seminar at the party’s temporary office in the capital’s Bangla Motor area on Thursday evening.
Jatiya Juboshakti, the youth wing of the party, organised the seminar titled ‘Implementation of the July Charter and the Path to the National Election’.
The party had long been pressing for the ‘Shapla’ symbol, but the Election Commission (EC) earlier said it could not allocate it since it was not listed among the approved symbols. However, in a new gazette published on Thursday, the EC included ‘Shapla Kali’ in its updated list of electoral symbols.
The gazette, signed by EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed, announced the revised list of symbols for registered political parties and independent candidates, adding and removing several options including ‘Shapla Kali’.
Reacting to the development, NCP Chief Coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary said the party would not accept the proposed ‘Shapla Kali’ symbol under any circumstances.
Patwary said, “The Commission must issue a new gazette incorporating the ‘Shapla’ symbol. We want to participate in the election peacefully, but if needed, we will launch a democratic movement at the EC office to secure it.”
NCP Senior Joint Convener Samantha Sharmin alleged that the EC’s decision was discriminatory.
“Without any legal reason, the Commission gazetted ‘Shapla Kali’ for us, as if we were a party of children. This is the same way major parties tend to undermine smaller ones — it’s a form of discrimination,” she said.
Jatiya Juboshakti Convener Tariqul Islam also criticized the EC, saying, “The Election Commission is behaving like a feudal authority. This attitude is unacceptable. Only ‘Shapla’ will be NCP’s symbol.”
Formed last year by student and youth leaders who led movements against the previous Awami League government, the NCP was recently deemed eligible for registration following an EC review. Since then, the party has been demanding the ‘Shapla’ as its electoral symbol.
Earlier, Chief Election Commissioner A M M Nasir Uddin and other officials had expressed their inability to allocate the symbol.
On September 23, EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed told reporters that NCP would not receive the ‘Shapla’ symbol as it was not included in the EC’s list of 115 approved symbols.