The National Citizen Party (NCP) is displeased as the “shapla koli” (waterlily bud) – instead of the “shapla” (waterlily) – has been included as a new symbol in the Election Commission’s (EC) gazette.
Samanta Sharmin, senior joint convener of the NCP, said, “As a political party, we wanted the ‘shapla’ symbol. But the ‘shapla koli’ has been gazetted instead. The Election Commission has made this decision without any legal explanation, which raises questions.”
She said this while speaking at a seminar organised by JuboShokti at Banglamotor in the capital on Thursday afternoon.
Samanta Sharmin further said, “If the shapla koli could be given, then the water lily was also possible. But the Commission wants to imply that we are still a small party. This kind of mentality is prevailing in the EC due to the influence of big political parties.”
Samanta Sharmin alleged that a fair election is not possible under the current Election Commission. In her opinion, the Commission’s behaviour in distributing symbols proves that they are incapable of maintaining a neutral position.
On Thursday, the Election Commission published a gazette adding three new symbols, including the ‘shapla koli’, to the list. The gazette was signed by EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed.
Earlier, in June, during the registration application, the NCP had proposed three symbols: ‘shapla’, pen, and the mobile phone. Later, the party insisted only on the shapla symbol. However, since the shapla was not on the Commission’s list, their application was repeatedly rejected.
Incidentally, Nagorik Oikka, led by Mahmudur Rahman Manna, had also previously sought the shapla, but the EC had rejected their application as well.
Although the registration process was in its final stage, the NCP was in a tussle with the EC over the symbol. The party sent letters to the Commission multiple times demanding the shapla symbol.
Most recently, on 7 October, the NCP sent a proposal with seven sample designs, which the EC did not accept. The Commission stated that the symbol must be chosen from the list of registered symbols.
The last day for choosing a symbol was 19 October. At that time, NCP also stated that they would not accept any symbol other than the shapla. Finally, on Thursday, the Election Commission published a gazette adding the shapla koli to the amended list.
