Awami League’s boat symbol removed from Election Commission website

The Awami League’s electoral symbol, the boat, has been removed from the Election Commission’s list of parties and their party symbols.

On Wednesday, the sixth entry on the list of party registrations stated “Awami League (registration suspended)”, with the registration date, party symbol and party symbol name boxes left blank. These boxes had previously been filled.

Since the Awami League’s registration is suspended, the party cannot contest elections, and no one will be able to run under the party’s reserved boat symbol. The removal of the symbol from the website formalised the issue.

However, the EC has yet to confirm whether the boat is being removed from its symbol list.

An official of the IT branch of the EC Secretariat told reporters about the instructions sent to him by the higher authorities in this regard.

System Manager Rafiqul Haque told the media, "It has been removed under the instructions of the authorities (EC Secretariat)."

On May 12, the government banned all activities of the Awami League and all its affiliates, associate organisations and fraternal organisations based on the demands of various factions involved in the July Uprising. The EC also suspended the registration of the Awami League as a political party.

After that, the website was updated and the suspension was noted next to the party’s registration. But the symbol remained on the list.

The National Citizen Party (NCP) has demanded that the boat symbol be removed from the list. An election commissioner also presented the EC's argument in favour of keeping the boat on the list.

Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud has defended retaining the boat symbol, saying election symbols are never banned.

"The boat symbol was allocated to a party, but symbols belong to the Election Commission," he told reporters on Jul 13.

"When the allocation was made in the name of the party, [its registration] wasn’t cancelled. The party still exists.

"Even if a party is dissolved, its symbol remains with the EC and can be reallocated. We don’t eliminate symbols."

On Tuesday, Local Government Advisor Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain criticised the EC's decision.

The boat symbol was removed from the website before the election rules were amended.

However, although Jamaat-e-Islami's registration was reinstated, its party symbol – the weighing scales - is not on the website as it was not included in the rules.

In addition, the names of the four parties whose registrations were cancelled and their reserved symbols are not on the website. But the symbols are still on the EC list.