Bangladesh’s Election Commission (EC) has officially registered the National Citizen Party (NCP), a political offshoot of the student-led movement Students Against Discrimination (SAD) that spearheaded last year’s uprising which toppled the Sheikh Hasina government.
The registration was notified in the official gazette on Monday, coinciding with the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) handing former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and ex-Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal death sentences in absentia on charges of “crimes against humanity.”
The EC has allotted the electoral symbol ‘Shapla Koli’ (water lily bud) to the NCP. The party had initially sought the national emblem, ‘Shapla’ (water lily), and threatened protests when the request was denied in September. NCP leaders agreed earlier this month to accept the alternative symbol and plan to contest all 300 parliamentary constituencies.
EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed confirmed the registration of the NCP alongside the Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (Marxist) and noted that applications from 143 political parties are under review, signalling a competitive election ahead.
The EC on Tuesday also released the final voter list for the upcoming polls. Bangladesh now has 127,695,183 registered voters, including 64,814,907 men, 62,879,042 women, and 1,234 transgender voters.
Also read: Sheikh Hasina Death Sentence is Illegal: Sources
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