The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has assigned distinctive electoral symbols to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidates, such as bowl, shoe, harmonium, chimta (tongs), and kettle, following the party’s loss of its iconic ‘bat’ symbol, as reported by Geo News. This move raises concerns about potential confusion among voters, especially in rural areas with low literacy rates, where the electoral symbol plays a crucial role in candidate identification.
فیصل آباد NA 95 سے عمران خان کے حمایت یافتہ چوہدری علی افضل ساہی نے واٹر کولر کے انتخابی نشان سے الیکشن کمپین کا باقاعدہ آغاز کر دیا pic.twitter.com/VjQEvUH0U0
— Naya Pakistan (@Naya__Pakistan_) January 14, 2024
The setback for PTI occurred when the Supreme Court overturned the Peshawar High Court’s decision, endorsing the ECP’s plea to deem the party’s intra-party structure “unconstitutional,” resulting in the loss of its electoral symbol just weeks before the February 8 polls. Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa announced this ruling in a late-night telecast.
Read more: PTI announces list of Candidates: Big names opt out
As a consequence of the court’s decision, PTI members will participate in the elections as independent candidates, each assigned a unique symbol. Notable PTI leaders, like Yasmin Rashid, Salman Akram Raja, and Latif Khosa, will contest with symbols like ‘laptop,’ ‘racquet,’ and the English letter ‘K,’ respectively.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s children, Mehr Bano Qureshi and Zain Hussain Qureshi, have been allotted symbols chimta (tongs) and shoe for Multan’s NA-151 and NA-150 constituencies. Other PTI candidates have received symbols such as ‘door,’ ‘dove,’ ‘bowl,’ and ‘kettle’ for various constituencies.
Read more: In last bid to get “BAT” back PTI reaches SC
Meanwhile, other political parties have been allotted their traditional symbols, including ‘lion’ for PMLN, ‘arrow’ for PPPP, ‘scale’ for JI, ‘batsman’ for PTI-Nazaryati, ‘eagle’ for IPP, ‘kite’ for MQM-P, and ‘crane’ for TLP.
The deadline for the allotment of electoral symbols for candidates participating in the February 8 general elections was January 13.