ISLAMABAD: Following Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) unveiling of Plan B, instructing party candidates to submit tickets using the ‘batsman of PTI-Nazriati group’ symbol, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued directives on Saturday for returning officers to reject applications where a member of a political party seeks the election symbol of another party.
The ECP order stated, “A contesting candidate, before seeking allotment of a prescribed symbol, shall file a declaration before the Returning Officer about his affiliation with a particular political party, if any, along with a certificate from the political party showing that he is that party’s candidate from the constituency.”
Highlighting concerns, the electoral watchdog expressed that it had received several applications where “many interested candidates are intending to violate the law, deceive the Election Commission, and unequivocally breach the affidavit already submitted with their nomination papers.
After sensing the danger of losing its iconic symbol ‘bat’, PTI has directed its candidates to file nominations under the PTI-Nazriati group, where the election symbol is ‘batsman.’
