Parliamentary candidates must use own party symbol, even in alliance: ordinance

The Election Commission has not heeded the BNP’s complaints over the issue

The interim government has issued the Representation of the People's Order (RPO) Amendment Ordinance, 2025, with a provision that says candidates must run using their registered party’s symbol even if they form an alliance.

The Ministry of Law and Parliamentary Affairs issued the ordinance in the form of a gazette on Monday.

Earlier, the draft of the RPO Amendment Ordinance was approved in principle at a meeting of the Advisory Council on Oct 23. The BNP objected to the requirement for alliance members to contest under their own party’s symbol, but Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party (NCP) demanded that the amendment to Section 20 be maintained.

Now the ordinance has been issued with the requirement intact. As a result, even if more than one registered party forms an alliance in the 13th parliamentary election, the candidate nominated by the alliance will not be able to run using the symbol of another party, but have to contest under their own party’s symbol.

A set of amendments have been made to the RPO ahead of the 13th national parliamentary election.

The reforms to electoral law have been completed with the issuing of the RPO Amendment Ordinance. The Election Commission (EC) had previously already amended a number of laws and regulations, including the Voter List Act, the Election Officer Special Provisions Act, the Election Commission Secretariat Act, the Polling Station Policy, the Domestic and Foreign Observation Policy, and the Journalist Policy.

The EC – the constitutional body responsible for organising the polls -- will soon issue a code of conduct for parties and candidates in light of the amendment to the RPO.