Two political parties get final approval from EC

The Election Commission has finalised the registration of the newly formed political parties – Bangladesh Supreme Party (BSP) and Bangladesh Nationalist Movement (BNM).

The BNM was allotted "anchor" as party symbol and BSP got "Ektara", according to a Thursday release signed by EC (Public Relations) Director Shariful Islam.

With the latest ones, the number of registered political parties in the country now stands at 44.

The Election Commission has faced backlash after initially granting approval to the aforementioned parties. Political groups that were denied registration have accused the commission of impartiality.

Additionally, various media reports have raised suspicions that the party was hastily formed, involving both former and current leaders and activists from the ruling Awami League.

Earlier, on 23 July, a Dhaka Judge Court lawyer called on the Election Commission to not register the Bangladesh Nationalist Movement (BNM) as a political party in the country.

According to Advocate Ali Naser, the information provided by the party about their activism in 20 upazilas had several discrepancies, which were found during the commission's field-level verification. Following this, the Election Commission ordered reinvestigation into the information of two upazilas only while ignoring the concerns pertaining to the other 18 upazilas.

Referring to the BNM as a less-known and futile political entity, he alleged, "Laws and regulations were not strictly enforced in the case of BNM's verification while there were other popular parties which could be considered by the commission."

"The Election Commission here acted with biased. So, they can be held accountable for this in future," he added.

Ali Naser Khan further said the registration process of the election commission as per recent investigative media reports has been questionable lately and has tarnished its image.