ISLAMABAD: Approximately 150 political parties competing for National and provincial assembly seats in the upcoming general elections were assigned electoral symbols by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Curiously absent from the list, posted on the ECP website after the recent ‘bat’ symbol ruling by the Supreme Court, was Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the former ruling party of the country.
Among the allocated symbols, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) received the ‘tiger,’ Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPP) got the ‘arrow,’ Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was assigned the ‘sword,’ and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-Nazriati (PTI-N) received the ‘batsman’ symbol.
Other party symbols included ‘eagle’ for Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP), ‘kite’ for Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), ‘book’ for Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F), ‘scale’ for Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JI), ‘turban’ for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarians (PTI-P), ‘axe’ for Balochistan National Party (BNP), ‘lantern’ for Awami National Party (ANP), ‘camel’ for Balochistan National Party Awami, and ‘cow’ for Balochistan Awami Party (BAP).
Last Saturday, the Election Commission issued a directive to returning officers, prohibiting the allocation of symbols to candidates affiliated with other parties.
The order, issued by a five-member bench led by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, cited the Elections Act, 2017, and emphasized that candidates belonging to one party should not be granted the symbol of another.
The ECP had already designated 177 symbols for independent candidates. In the Islamabad Capital Territory, returning officers assigned symbols to candidates, with 119 individuals receiving symbols for three National Assembly constituencies.
For NA-46, 44 candidates will compete, including 29 independents and representatives from 16 political parties. A transgender candidate is also contesting with the symbol of a ‘green chilli.’
In NA-47, 37 candidates will vie for victory, including 25 independents and 12 from different political parties. Noteworthy symbols include ‘battery’ for independent candidate Chaudhry Ilyas Meherban and ‘clock’ for Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar.
NA-48 will witness 38 candidates in the race, with 27 independents and representatives from 11 parties participating in the constituency.
I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.
