EC finds flaws in all new party prayer including NCP
Staff Reporter :
A total of 144 political parties, including the National Citizen Party (NCP), have failed to meet the preliminary criteria for registration with the Election Commission (EC), officials confirmed on Tuesday.
The EC has granted the applicants a 15-day extension to rectify discrepancies and submit missing documents.
“None of the newly applying parties fully complied with the registration requirements during the initial scrutiny,” said KM Ali Newaz, Additional Secretary of the EC, while speaking to reporters. “Letters will be issued in phases-first to 62 parties, followed by the remainder. Each must respond within 15 days.”
The EC had invited applications for new political party registration on 20 April. Following requests from 46 parties, including the NCP, the deadline was extended to 22 June. A total of 147 applications were received, with three duplicate submissions.
Since 2008, political party registrations have been conducted under the Representation of the People Order, 1972. Currently, 51 parties are officially registered in Bangladesh.
To be eligible for registration, a party must fulfil at least one of three conditions: win a parliamentary seat under its electoral symbol, secure at least five percent of votes cast in any constituency, or maintain an operational central office and party committees in at least one-third of districts or 100 upazilas/metropolitan areas, each with a minimum of 200 registered voters.
During the 12th national election in January 2024, 93 parties applied for registration. Field verifications were carried out for 12 of them, including Gono Odhikar Parishad and the AB Party.
Ultimately, only two parties-the Bangladesh Nationalist Movement (BNM) and the Bangladesh Supreme Party (BSP)-were granted registration after addressing objections raised during the verification process.
Separately, the Director General of the NID Wing, ASM Humayun Kabir, informed reporters that 48,080 Bangladeshi expatriates across nine countries have applied for voter registration and National Identity (NID) cards.
Biometric data has already been collected from 29,646 applicants.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently approved NID operations in five new countries: the United States, Oman, South Africa, Jordan, and the Maldives. Preparatory work in these locations has been completed.
Registration is currently active in 16 centres across nine countries: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Italy, the UK, Kuwait, Qatar, Malaysia, Australia, and Canada. Japan is set to become the tenth country in the programme, although the rollout there has been slightly delayed due to technical issues related to public IP access.
“We had initially planned to begin registration in Japan on the 15th of July, but approval for the public IP has been delayed,” Humayun Kabir said. “Once resolved, the process will begin immediately.”
Asked about costs associated with expatriate voter registration, the NID DG explained that the expenses are managed under a separate project overseen by the Election Commission Secretariat, not the NID Wing.
The updated voter list is expected to be published within the next one to two weeks.
The EC launched its overseas NID programme in 2020, beginning with the UK. The initiative was first conceived under the commission led by KM Nurul Huda in 2019.
In preparation for the upcoming parliamentary elections-likely to be held in February 2026-the EC has transferred 51 of its officials.
The transfer orders were signed on Tuesday by Md Shahidur Rahman, Senior Assistant Secretary at the EC Secretariat.