EC clears two new political parties for registration, including Aam Jonotar Dal

The Election Commission has decided to register two new parties, including the Aam Jonotar Dal, whose general secretary had made headlines in early November by staging a hunger strike demanding his party’s registration.

The second party selected for registration is Jonotar Dal, bdnews24.com reports. 

EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed on Thursday confirmed the decision.

In a notice issued on the same day, the EC assigned “Projapoti”, or butterfly, as the electoral symbol of the Aam Jonotar Dal and “Kolom”, or pen, for the Jonotar Dal.

The EC has also fixed until Dec 9 to receive any objections to registering the parties.

On Nov 18, the National Citizen Party and the Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (Marxist) were registered.

Aam Jonotar Dal’s Tarek Rahman had ended his six-day hunger strike on Nov 9. He staged the protest in front of the EC office. He had withdrawn the strike following the “assurance” of BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed.

The current commission, headed by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, is on course to register four new parties with the latest decision.

The parliamentary election is scheduled to be held in the first half of February before Ramadan next year.

The EC is to announce the schedule soon.

On Mar 10 this year, the EC invited applications from new parties interested in registration. After a one-time extension, 143 parties applied by Jun 22.

The rest of the parties were dropped following objections and investigations.

Registration for political parties to participate in parliamentary elections was made mandatory in 2008. Since then, 59 parties have registered. Among them, the Awami League’s registration is currently suspended, and the registrations of the Freedom Party, Oikyaboddho Nagorik Andolon, and Progressive Democratic Party have been cancelled.