NCP among 16 parties clear EC’s preliminary registration screening: official

National Citizen Party (NCP) and 15 other political parties have passed Election Commission's preliminary selection process for registration.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting yesterday, EC Additional Secretary KM Ali Newaz said, "We have listed 16 parties, including the NCP, for field-level verification. After receiving the investigation report from there, further decisions will be made."

The EC's committee on political party registration verification and selection held a meeting yesterday at the EC Secretariat.

Subject to approval by the Election Commission, an investigation will soon begin to verify the accuracy of the information provided by the parties, including their central and grassroots offices, committees, and other details, EC officials said.

This year, a total of 145 parties applied for registration by June 22. They were given until August 3 to correct any errors in their applications.

According to EC officials, 59 parties failed to submit the necessary documents with their applications, and even after being allowed to correct errors, another 69-70 parties did not do so.

In such cases, the EC Secretariat will inform the concerned parties that their applications for registration have been rejected.

To obtain EC registration as a political party, an applicant must have a central committee, committees in at least one-third of the districts and 100 upazilas, and proof of support from 200 voters in each committee.

After receiving applications, the EC first conducts a preliminary selection. It then verifies the submitted information through on-site investigations before issuing a public notice inviting claims or objections.

If any objections are received, the EC holds hearings to resolve them. If no objections remain, the commission grants the party an election symbol registration certificate.

The registration system was introduced before the 9th parliamentary election in 2008. Currently, there are 50 registered political parties in the country.