Islamabad: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued instructions on Tuesday, emphasizing the avoidance of changes in election symbols for candidates participating in the upcoming elections.
The directive is directed at Provincial Election Commissioners, District Returning Officers (DROs), and Returning Officers (ROs), urging them to refrain from altering election symbols without obtaining prior permission from the Commission.
The ECP highlighted the ongoing printing of ballot papers, making it challenging to accommodate changes in election symbols.
The general elections are scheduled for February 8 nationwide, with political parties already assigned their respective symbols by the ECP.
Notably, the ECP had initially allotted the shoe symbol to PTI leader Shoaib Shaheen as an independent candidate, later changing it to a dove symbol.
In a related development, leaders of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) expressed concerns as seven of their candidates were reportedly not assigned the arrow symbol, leading them to be considered as independent candidates.
