EC to restore Jamaat’s registration, symbol

Election Commission (EC) yesterday decided to reinstate the registration of Jamaat-e-Islami as a political party, assigning the "Daripalla" (weighing scale) as its official election symbol.

The decision followed a verdict by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on June 1, which directed the EC to restore the party's registration and resolve other pending issues.

Election Commissioner Brigadier General (retd) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah said the Commission made the decision in principle during a meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, attended by other election commissioners and senior officials.

He said the decision to restore Jamaat's registration and symbol was made after considering all aspects.

However, he noted that reinstating the party symbol involves some official procedures and will take a little time.

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On August 1, 2013, the High Court declared Jamaat's registration illegal following a writ petition.

The EC officially cancelled Jamaat's registration in October 2018 ahead of the 11th national election. As a result, the party lost its eligibility to contest parliamentary elections.

Jamaat later appealed the High Court verdict to the Appellate Division, which began hearing the appeal on December 3 last year.

On December 12, 2016, the Supreme Court held a full court meeting and decided to request the EC not to allocate the weighing scale symbol to any political party, as it is used as the apex court's monogram. The SC registrar sent a letter to the EC on December 14, 2016 in this regard.

The symbol had previously been allocated to Jamaat.

Speaking on the issue, Sanaullah said the EC at the time had revoked the symbol based on the SC registrar's administrative letter.

"An appeal was filed earlier, arguing that the scale should not be used as a political symbol since it represents the justice system. However, the court rejected that appeal, ruling that using it as an electoral symbol does not harm the judiciary's integrity. As far as the Election Commission is aware, that ruling is still in effect," he said.