The National Citizen Party (NCP) will contest the upcoming elections under the Shapla symbol, said Sarjis Alam, the party's chief organizer (north) on Monday.
He made the statement while replying to questions from journalists after a coordination meeting of NCP’s Rajshahi district and metropolitan units at the Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and Industry hall at Aloker Mor in Rajshahi city.
Sarjis urged the Election Commission (EC) to revise its policies instead of focusing on denying NCP the Shapla symbol. “Rather than running after the issue of withholding the Shapla symbol from NCP, the Election Commission should revise its own policies—policies that will present the EC as a standard and credible body before the nation,” he said. “We firmly believe that we will receive the Shapla symbol from our position, and we are confident that NCP will participate in the election with that symbol.”
He said there is no legal barrier to NCP obtaining the symbol. “Our team worked on this for a long time, carefully considering all legal aspects. After consulting election and symbol-related experts and legal professionals, we decided to adopt the Shapla as our symbol,” he said.
“There is no legal obstacle here. If the Election Commission acts arbitrarily or bows to pressure and refrains from granting us the Shapla symbol, we will believe that it has lost its character as an independent constitutional institution. Should that happen, our trust in the electoral process will erode. But we are confident that we will obtain the Shapla symbol and that NCP will contest the election under it,” he added.
Referring to the EC’s overall functioning, Sarjis said: “For years, the Election Commission has been operating in the same manner. If the current commission continues to function the same way, it will be a matter of political embarrassment. NCP is often mentioned alongside another party, the Jatiya League. While we, as a political party, had to meet conditions such as establishing offices in 22 districts and 100 upazilas and collecting 200 members’ NID-based forms for each unit, another party simply hung a small PVC sign—two feet by one and a half feet—next to a toilet and was deemed eligible as a political party by the EC.”
He continued: “What were the previous conditions that suddenly became irrelevant, making one party appear more relevant? This is a question the EC must answer. How can a name-only political group, which may have fulfilled a minor condition decades ago, be considered qualified while those who have worked hard lose recognition for their efforts? This should not happen. The EC’s policies must be amended. Bangladesh currently has around 45 registered political parties. Ask around—can people name even 15 of them or identify their leadership?”
Criticising the EC’s standards, he said: “When you compare genuinely active political parties—those who have worked tirelessly—with a name-only entity like the Jatiya League, it devalues our efforts. We urge the Election Commission to stop focusing on withholding the Shapla symbol from NCP and instead reform its policies to present itself as a credible, standard electoral institution before the country.”
Sarjis Alam further said: “Those who genuinely engage in politics for the people should be kept relevant in Bangladesh’s political landscape. Otherwise, we hear claims like, ‘I have 20 parties with me,’ or ‘I have 25, even 30 parties,’ but no one knows their names or who leads them. The Election Commission must rise above this equation and play a constructive role.”