The Election Commission has decided to allot new, gender-neutral symbols to female candidates in the upcoming union parishad (UP) polls.
It has also decided to scrap the electoral requirement for independent candidates to gather support of 100 voters in order to be eligible to contest the elections, sources said.
The decision introduce neutral symbols came after the EC was criticised for allotting household items as symbols to female contestants in the municipal and city corporation polls last year.
The EC has proposed 10 new symbols for reserved councillor seats for female candidates, namely pen, camera, plum tree, giraffe, book, egret, pitcher, microphone, helicopter and sunflower, dropping symbols such as frying pan, necklace, comb, flower and vegetable in the draft of electoral rules for the UP polls, said EC Secretary Md Shahjahan on Thursday.
“The commission will never allot any symbol to the female candidates that may be offensive to them,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.
Meanwhile, the commission decided to remove the provision of acquiring voters’ support in the form of signatures for independent candidates, because it is difficult to verify the signatures as the election is going to take place in 4,500 union parishads around the country, said an EC official.
Similar to the municipal elections last month, the UP elections will be held under party banners, for the first time in the history of UP elections.
The proposals were approved on Thursday, and the draft of the electoral rules have been finalised, he said, requesting anonymity.
The Election Commission will send the draft to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs tomorrow for final approval.
The commission will also send the draft of the code of conduct for the UP elections for vetting to the ministry on Tuesday, the official added.
Once the draft gets vetted by the Law Ministry, the draft will published through gazette notification, and the election schedule will be published in February, he said.
The election is set to take place at the end of March, sources said.
