Advisor Asif Mahmud says decision to retain boat as election symbol is ‘ill-judged’

He says keeping the electoral symbol contradicts the spirit of the July Uprising

Local Government Advisor Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain has criticised the Election Commission’s (EC) decision to retain the Awami League’s “boat” symbol in the official list of election symbols, calling it “ill-judged” and urging a reconsideration.

On Thursday, Asif, a former representative of the Anti-discrimination Student Movement, said keeping the symbol contradicts the spirit of the July Uprising.

“It’s unfortunate that in the same month as the July Uprising, we still have to debate whether the boat symbol should remain on the list, even after the Awami League has been banned,” he said.

“With all due respect, I say this not as a member of the government, but as a citizen of Bangladesh and on behalf of those who lost their lives in July. I consider this decision extremely ill-considered.”

Speaking after a workshop at Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), he added: “I strongly urge the Election Commission to reconsider. The inclusion of a symbol used to rob millions of people of their voting rights, over three successive elections, clashes with the spirit of July.

“The very party the government has banned used this symbol, and retaining it now goes against the moral position we’ve taken.”

Earlier on Tuesday night, Asif had criticised the EC in a Facebook post, questioning: “On what grounds did you send the cursed boat symbol for scheduling to the law ministry?”

The EC has revised its electoral conduct rules and decided to retain 115 election symbols. A draft of the updated rules has been sent to the law ministry for vetting.

Following the reinstatement of Jamaat-e-Islami’s registration, its “weighing scales” symbol has been added to the list. The Awami League’s registration remains suspended.

On Tuesday, after the boat symbol was removed from the EC’s website, EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed clarified that the symbol would remain preserved in the annexe of the electoral code of conduct, though it can no longer be used by any political party.

Following an informal meeting between the chief election commissioner and other commissioners, Akhtar said the decision was made to avoid confusion.

“Although the boat remains in the symbol annexe, it was taken off the website because of the Awami League’s suspended registration,” he said.

“There is no external pressure on the Election Commission. The commission thought it would be best to keep the symbol offline.”