No boat symbol on ballot for first time in Bangladesh’s poll

For the first time in 30 years, the election symbol of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League  boat has not appeared on the ballot paper in Bangladesh’s crucial general election, voting for which is being held on Thursday. This is the first election since Hasina was ousted after massive nationwide protests in August 2024. The Interim Government banned all party activities of the Awami League on May 12 last year and soon afterwards, the Election Commission suspended the party’s registration.

One of the country’s oldest political parties, the Awami League, has boycotted parliamentary elections twice in the past. This time, however, it is unable to take part at all, as its registration remains suspended, BDNews24 reported. The Government has said the ban will remain in place until trials at the Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (BD-ICT) are completed. As a result, the party’s symbol will not feature even on the postal ballots, the report said.

However, this is not the first time. The Awami League boycotted elections in 1988 and again in 1996 amid political movements. In total, the boat symbol has been absent from the ballot paper in three of Bangladesh’s 13 parliamentary elections, it said. Since the introduction of the political party registration system in 2008, a total of 63 parties have been registered. Of these, registration of three parties has been cancelled, while one remains suspended this year. Of the remaining 59 registered parties, 51 are contesting the 13th parliamentary election.

Including both party-nominated and independent candidates, there are a total of 2,009 candidates across 299 out of 300 parliamentary constituencies in the country. Bangladesh faced an upheaval after 77-year-old Hasina’s ouster following weeks of student-led protests over a controversial quota system in Government jobs that escalated into a nationwide campaign calling for the end of her 16-year regime. Hasina left Bangladesh for India on August 5, 2024, months after she had secured a fourth straight term as prime minister.

The interim Government imposed a ban on all activities of the party on May 12 last year. Soon afterwards, the Election Commission suspended the party’s registration. The BD-ICT handed her the death sentence after trial in absentia last year accusing her of committing crimes against humanity to tame the violent protest, dubbed July Uprising, that toppled her Government.

The cases relate to allegations including enforced disappearances, killings, people being burned alive, illegal detention, inhuman torture, looting, arson and crimes against humanity committed during efforts to suppress the uprising. As a result, the party, which governed Bangladesh for more than two decades across six separate terms, has been barred from contesting the election. Bangladeshi women casting their votes in a polling station during national parliamentary election in Dhaka, Bangladesh.