The Election Commission (EC) of Bangladesh has removed the 'Boat' symbol, associated with the Awami League, from its official website. The EC website now lists the Awami League with the note "(registration suspended)" and has removed the 'Boat' as its electoral symbol, as confirmed by the constitutional body.
When contacted for clarification, Mohammad Rafiqul Haque, System Manager of the Election Commission Secretariat, told the media that the symbol was removed on the instructions of higher authorities.
The decision follows criticism sparked by a draft amendment to the election management regulations, which proposed retaining the 'Boat' symbol among 115 reserved electoral symbols, despite the Awami League’s registration being suspended. The controversy intensified after Local Government Adviser Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan criticized the EC in a Facebook post on Tuesday night (July 15), questioning, “On what basis did you send the accursed ‘Boat’ symbol back to the Law Ministry for inclusion in the schedule?”
The draft amendment also included the 'Weighing Scales' symbol for Jamaat-e-Islami following its re-registration. However, the retention of the 'Boat' symbol, despite the Awami League’s suspended status, drew significant backlash. Currently, the EC’s schedule includes 69 symbols, with 51 allocated to political parties and 19 reserved for independent candidates. If the new list is finalized, the total number of symbols will increase to 115.
The suspension of the Awami League’s registration on May 12, 2025, by the EC, following a ban on its activities under the Anti-Terrorism Act by the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has effectively barred the party from participating in future elections unless the ban is lifted.[
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