Dhaka, Nov 04 (V7N)- The government has issued the Representation of the People’s Order (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025 (RPO), introducing a key change that requires registered political parties within an alliance to contest elections using their own symbols instead of a shared one.

The Law Ministry issued the gazette notification of the ordinance on Monday (November 3), incorporating a set of amendments to the RPO ahead of the 13th National Parliamentary Election.

Under the new provision, no registered party within an alliance will be allowed to use the symbol of a major or another party. Each candidate nominated by alliance partners must contest under their respective party symbols.

The draft amendment was approved in principle by the Advisory Council on October 23. Following the approval, the BNP objected to the changes in Article 20 concerning alliance symbols, while the Jamaat-e-Islami and Nationalist Citizen Party (NCP) supported maintaining the new provision.

In preparation for the upcoming election, the Election Commission (EC) has also completed revisions to several related laws — including the Voters’ List Act, the Election Officers (Special Provisions) Act, and the Election Commission Secretariat Act.
Additionally, the EC has updated policies governing polling stations, domestic and foreign election observers, and journalists to ensure smoother election management.

END/SMA/AJ