Up for grabs: Parties clamour for electoral symbols
ECP faces administrative complications in allotting election symbols to 281 parties as there are 170 approved symbols.
ECP faces administrative complications in allotting election symbols to 281 parties as there are 170 approved symbols. PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE
ISLAMABAD:
As the number of political parties in the country has mushroomed over the last five years, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is facing administrative complications in allotting an election symbol to each of the 281 parties. There are currently a total of 170 approved symbols within the ECP’s list, which is approved by the president.
Thus, the ECP says it is mulling ‘out of the box’ solutions in order to create distinguishable symbols for each party. “We have no election symbols available anymore,” a senior official told The Express Tribune. “There is obvious resemblance to almost every symbol we consider now. If for instance, we allocate the symbol of a television to one party and another party has the symbol of a computer, it will confuse voters.”
The ECP has pondered suggestions including doubling – allocating one arrow to one party and two to another, or one tiger for a party and two tigers for another.
Election symbols play an important role during the polls, particularly for those voters who are unable to read or write, as they stand in for a candidate’s name or party affiliation. Once a party is allocated a symbol – the tiger for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, for instance – it is considered ‘reserved’ for that party until it is voluntarily dropped or the party is disbanded.
Not more than a dozen parties are serious contenders in the electoral process and the more attractive election symbols have been snapped up.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 14th, 2014.
As the number of political parties in the country has mushroomed over the last five years, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is facing administrative complications in allotting an election symbol to each of the 281 parties. There are currently a total of 170 approved symbols within the ECP’s list, which is approved by the president.
Thus, the ECP says it is mulling ‘out of the box’ solutions in order to create distinguishable symbols for each party. “We have no election symbols available anymore,” a senior official told The Express Tribune. “There is obvious resemblance to almost every symbol we consider now. If for instance, we allocate the symbol of a television to one party and another party has the symbol of a computer, it will confuse voters.”
The ECP has pondered suggestions including doubling – allocating one arrow to one party and two to another, or one tiger for a party and two tigers for another.
Election symbols play an important role during the polls, particularly for those voters who are unable to read or write, as they stand in for a candidate’s name or party affiliation. Once a party is allocated a symbol – the tiger for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, for instance – it is considered ‘reserved’ for that party until it is voluntarily dropped or the party is disbanded.
Not more than a dozen parties are serious contenders in the electoral process and the more attractive election symbols have been snapped up.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 14th, 2014.