The National Citizen Party (NCP) will not be allowed to use the ‘Shapla’ (water lily) as its electoral symbol and must select an alternative from the Election Commission’s (EC) approved list, the EC’s Senior Secretary Akhter Ahmed told reporters at the commission’s headquarters in Agargaon on Tuesday.
According to the secretary, the Ministry of Law has vetted the list of symbols and the Shapla does not appear on it. The EC had already taken a policy decision in July not to include the Shapla in its schedule of approved election symbols.
The NCP, founded by youth leaders involved in the country’s recent political movements, had applied for party registration with the EC and requested ‘Shapla’ as its preferred symbol. In its application, the party also listed ‘pen’ and ‘mobile phone’ as alternative choices.
Election Commissioner Abdur Rahim Masud earlier said that the EC’s policy decision to exclude the Shapla was taken to protect the sanctity of national symbols. In the past, other parties had also requested the Shapla but were denied for similar reasons.
While there is no law regarding the use of the national flower or fruit, there are regulations protecting the national emblem and flag, and these considerations led to the decision not to include the Shapla as an election symbol.
