The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has instructed election officials to avoid changing candidates’ electoral symbols as the printing of ballot papers is already underway. This directive comes after allegations from political parties, including PPP and PTI, who accused the ECP of either denying or assigning wrong symbols to their candidates. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari claimed that returning officers in Punjab allotted the wrong symbols to his party’s candidates under pressure from PML-N. He added that the PML-N was trying to keep its opponents out of the election contest. Similar concerns were raised by the party’s Punjab leader Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed and independent candidates belonging to PTI. The ECP has now warned ROs, DROs, and election officials to refrain from changing symbols for poll aspirants, stating that the printing process has already begun and that there is a time constraint. The spokesperson for the ECP also mentioned the possibility of postponing the election in constituencies where the process of altering electoral symbols continues. The general elections are scheduled for February 8, and election symbols were supposed to be allotted to political parties on January 13.
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