The Election Commission (EC) has officially removed the Awami League’s electoral symbol ‘boat’ from its list of registered political parties, following the party’s suspension. Rafiqul Haque, system manager at the EC Secretariat, confirmed that the removal was carried out on directives from higher authorities.
The development comes amid ongoing debate over whether a suspended party should retain its electoral symbol. On Tuesday, local government adviser Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan publicly questioned the EC’s recent proposal to the law ministry to retain the symbol, despite the party’s registration status. In a Facebook post, Bhuiyan referred to the “canceled boat symbol” and urged transparency and consistency in electoral procedures.
Calls for the symbol’s removal have also come from other political groups. On July 13, the Nationalist Citizen Party (NCP) met with Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin to formally request that the symbol be removed. Following the meeting, NCP’s joint member secretary, Zahirul Islam Musa, emphasized that allowing a suspended party to retain its symbol sets a problematic precedent.
In response, the Chief Election Commissioner acknowledged the concerns and stated that the issue would be reviewed thoroughly.
Currently, the EC’s symbol registry includes 69 electoral symbols—51 assigned to political parties and 18 reserved for independent candidates. The Commission is in the process of updating this list, with a revised version expected to include 115 symbols to accommodate expanding political participation.
The EC has not yet announced whether the Awami League’s symbol could be reinstated in the future, depending on the party’s registration status. Observers note that the decision could set a significant precedent for how suspended parties are treated within the electoral system moving forward.