NCP Asked Again to Pick Symbol by Oct 19: EC Secy

"We have sent a letter to them (NCP) asking them to inform us of their desired symbol by October 19. If they do not inform us by October 19, the Election Commission will take a decision on the symbol at its own discretion," he told reporters at Nirbachan Bhaban in the city.

The EC Secretary said the NCP’s desired symbol is ‘Water Lily’. “But the Election Commission's stance on this matter is that since it is not in the Election Commission's rules, there is no scope for it to be given.”

When asked if there is a possibility of creating instability with the election in the political arena if the decision is taken at one's own discretion, he said, "It is a matter of time, time will say."

Replying to a question if there is any legal barrier to incorporate ‘Water Lily’ in the symbol list, he said the commission thinks there is no need to include the Water Lily.

When asked under which law and under what reasoning Shapla is not being included, the EC secretary did not give a direct answer. He said, "The law is needed based on the environment, situation and necessity."

About Jamaat’s proposals to hold a referendum before the national election and introduce the proportional representation (PR) system in the next election, the EC Secretary said he has nothing to say about the issues.

 “When the Commission takes a final decision, we’ll inform you. The same remark is also for the referendum. Until the EC is asked to take any step (by the government), we have nothing to do about it,” he said.

Regarding political party registration, Akhtar Ahmed said the EC engaged its field officials to collect additional information about 12 parties who applied for registration. “We hope to reach a solution by next week after reviewing their reports.”

He said the EC has invited all law enforcement agencies to a meeting at the EC Secretariat on October 20 as part of the series of electoral dialogues with different stakeholders ahead of the 13th parliamentary election planned to be held in early February 2026.

About expatriate voters, the EC Secretary said work is progressing well to ensure that they can apply their voting rights in the next election. “We expect to launch the registration app (for expats) by the last week of October or by the first week of November. Currently, the NID registration is ongoing in 11 countries,” he said.

Earlier on September 30, the EC sent a letter to NCP attaching a list of 50 reserved symbols, asking it to pick one from the list instead of its desired ‘Water Lily’ symbol by October 7.

In reply, the NCP again requested the EC to allocate the ‘Water Lily’ as its symbol and sent several designs of the desired emblem — ‘Water Lily’, ‘Red Water Lily’, and ‘White Water Lily’.

On October 9, a three-member NCP delegation, led by its Chief Coordinator Nasir Uddin Patwary, met Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin and reiterated their demand for the ‘Water Lily’ symbol.

After the meeting, Patwary told reporters that NCP would not accept registration without the ‘Water Lily’. “We’ve made it clear that NCP will not receive registration without the Water Lily symbol. We’ll wait for a month,” he said.

Bangladesh Congress on Monday last asked the EC to allocate the ‘Water Lily’ symbol to the party if it is included in the list of electoral symbols as it was denied the symbol during its registration six years ago.

“In recent times, several political parties have demanded the ‘Water Lily’ as their electoral symbol. In this context, if the national emblem of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh — the Water Lily — is allowed as a party symbol, Bangladesh Congress should be recognised as the first claimant and given priority,” said a letter Bangladesh Congress submitted to the EC.

On September 25 last, Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin told reporters that Nagorik Oikya, led by Mahmudur Rahman Manna, first applied for the ‘water lily’ symbol and then NCP applied for the same symbol.

Manna said they will protest if the EC allocates ‘Water Lily’ to NCP, but they won’t go to the court challenging the EC’s decision, reports UNB.