ASHIK ABDULLAH APU

The newly formed National Citizen Party will formally request the Election Commission to extend the registration deadline for political parties by two months, as the party is unlikely to meet the registration requirements by April 20.

NCP has formed a special team to handle registration-related tasks, which will soon engage with the EC, Ariful Islam Adeeb, NCP senior joint convener, told The Daily Star.

The party, which is based on the student-led July uprising, officially launched on February 28. Shortly after, the EC issued a public notice inviting applications from new parties for registration, with a submission deadline of April 20.

Meanwhile, the legitimacy of the EC’s public notice has been contested with the High Court by Rastra Sangskar Andolan. Following a preliminary hearing on March 18, the court issued a rule with a stay order, though according to petitioner’s lawyer Abeda Gulruk, this applies only to the Rastra Sangskar Andolan and not to other parties.

At least three key NCP leaders told this newspaper that they were working to fulfil all registration requirements, including the establishment of a central office, necessary district and upazila offices, finalising the party charter, and formation of committees, within the next two months.

“A divisional coordination team will soon be formed to take steps for announcing committees,” said a central leader, adding that upazila committees were almost ready and district committees required further structuring.

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