EC seeks alliance information from parties within Sunday

The Election Commission has written to the registered political parties seeking their decision on allowing allies to use their logos in the general elections.

If any party wants to allow its allies to use its logo, it must notify the commission within Sunday as per the law, according to the letter sent to the chiefs or general secretaries of the 39 parties.

The commission sent the letter after Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda announced the schedule on Thursday evening, EC Joint Secretary Farhad Ahmad Khan told bdnews24.com.

The EC in a notice on Friday said if more than one registered parties form a coalition, they can use the logo of any of the parties for their jointly nominated candidates in the election.

The EC will allocate the logos on Nov 30, a day after the end of the deadline for nomination withdrawal.

Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-JaSoD and Workers Party went to the 2008 and 2014 elections with the Awami League’s boat logo. Tarikat Federation joined them in 2014.

The Jatiya Party, another ally of the ruling party, contested with its own plough logo in both those elections.

Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan and Islami Andolan Bangladesh jointly nominated a candidate with the latter’s logo hand fan in 2008.

Progressive Democratic Party candidates also fought with the Bikalpadhara Bangladesh’s winnowing fan symbol in some of the constituencies that year.

Bangladesh Jatiya Party-BJP, Islami Oikya Jote, Jamiyate Ulamaye Islam Bangladesh and Jatiya Ganatantrik Party contested in the election with the BNP’s paddy sheaf symbol.

Their partner the Jamaat-e-Islami used its own weighing scale symbol.

The BNP and its allies stayed away from the 2014 election. The Jamaat had lost its registration following a High Court ruling by the time.

The EC recently dropped weighing scale from the list of electoral symbols following Supreme Court orders.

This time, Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina agreed to sit with the political groups to thrash out differences before the general elections.

She led the ruling 14-Party coalition in the talks, in which issues raised by the newly formed Jatiya Oikya Front alliance remained unsettled.

The BNP stayed away from the 2014 election as its demand for a nonpartisan polls-time government was not met.

The party, a key component in the Gono Forum chief Dr Kamal Hossain-led Oikya Front, is also demanding the release of its chief Khaleda Zia, who has been jailed for corruption.

The new alliance is yet to finalise its decision about contesting in the next election. Now they have until Sunday to say if they will choose paddy sheaf as their logo or not.  

The other registered parties in the Oikya Front are the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-JSD and Krishak Sramik Janata League.

AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury-led Bikalpadhara Bangladesh stayed away from the last general elections, but has hinted at joining the upcoming one after talks with Hasina.

The Leftist Democratic Alliance of the CPB, BaSaD and Revolutionary Workers Party are also yet to make up their mind about joining the election.

The Awami League's allies in the ruling coalition, and their partner HM Ershad’s Jatiya Party have maintained that they are comfortable with the idea of Hasina heading the government to oversee the elections.

But they are waiting to hear from the Oikya Front before deciding whether the Jatiya Party will nominate candidates for all 300 parliamentary or go to the election with the Awami League’s boat logo.