NCP refuses to accept election symbol 'imposed' by EC

Leaders of the National Citizen Party (NCP) have said they will not accept any election symbol “imposed” on them by the Election Commission (EC), reiterating their demand to retain the "Shapla" (water lily) as their party emblem.

On Sunday, NCP leaders met with EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed on the final day for choosing an alternative symbol after their preferred one was rejected. The delegation also submitted a written reply to the EC, reiterating their firm stance on keeping the Shapla symbol.

Hasnat Abdullah, the NCP’s chief organiser for the southern region, said the party believed the commission was acting "arbitrarily".

“We have seen that the Election Commission is taking arbitrary decisions. We feel these decisions are being imposed on us,” he told reporters after the meeting.

Hasnat added that the current EC lacked a clear policy for allocating election symbols.

“An institutional autocracy has developed within the EC. From its attitude, it seems the commission is operating without guidelines. The existing parties have been assigned symbols without any policy,” he said.

Drawing a comparison with autocratic rule, he added: “It’s like the medieval days of despotic kings who acted on whim. Their behaviour mirrors that of monarchs. In truth, the remote control lies elsewhere -- the Election Commission is spineless.”