The Election Commission on Wednesday removed the boat symbol of Bangladesh Awami League from its official website as the registration of the party remained suspended.

Speaking to reporters at the EC headquarters in Agargaon, the EC senior secretary Akhtar Ahmed said that the decision to remove the symbol was taken purely to prevent public confusion.

‘There is no other reason. We removed the symbol so that no misunderstanding arises among the public,’ he said.

The Awami League government was ousted on August 5 2024, following a student-led mass uprising.

On May 12, Bangladesh interim government banned all activities of the Awami League and its affiliated, allied and like-minded organisations until trials at the International Crimes Tribunal are concluded.

On the same day, the EC suspended the party’s registration as a political entity.

Just days before the removal of the boat symbol from the EC website, election commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud said that the symbol would remain in the official list despite the suspension of the Awami League’s registration.

Speaking to journalists on July 12, the election commissioner said that symbols are never banned and that although the boat symbol had been allocated to a party, it ultimately belonged to the Election Commission.

He said that even if a party’s registration was suspended or the party itself dissolved, the symbol would still remain with the commission.

On Tuesday night, local government adviser to the interim government Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan questioned in a Facebook post, ‘On what grounds did you send the “cursed” boat symbol to the Law Ministry for rescheduling? As a constitutional institution, have you just given a thumbs-up to disregarding the mass uprising?’