Hum Awam party asks ECP to allot 'bat' as electoral symbol

• "We've this right to request for the very symbol," says party chief.
• Details of symbols allotted to political parties not available.
• Symbol eagle has been allotted to Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party.

ISLAMABAD: The Hum Awam Pakistan Party (HAPP) has requested the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to allot it bat as the electoral symbol, The News reported on Sunday.

HAPP Chairman Muhammad Amjad Chaudhry said the party had already asked the ECP for the bat’s election symbol sometime ago.

Addressing a media briefing on Saturday, the party's Additional Secretary General Ahmer Zaman Khan said their party symbol ‘lock’ was withdrawn from them for not submitting the returns. Then, they requested the commission to accept their already submitted application for allotment of bat symbol, which had become available after the ECP deprived the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of it, he said.

Referring to the ECP’s decision to withdraw PTI’s electoral symbol for not holding intra-party elections as per the rules specified by the country’s top electoral body, Ahmer Zaman Khan said the ECP’s decision established that the Constitution and the law were supreme.

“We have this right to request for the very symbol under the Constitution and accordingly we have requested Election Commission and we have full faith in it.”

Recently, the Election Commission had canceled the registration of All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) and also withdrew the election symbol ‘eagle’, which was allotted to it. Now, the symbol has been allotted to Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party.

Meanwhile, details of symbols allotted to political parties are presently not available on the commission’s website. There are as many as 171 election symbols on the list, displayed on the Election Commission’s website for independent candidates.

“Will be available soon,” was seen written in the space meant for the list of symbols allotted to political parties. Whether the PTI again gets this symbol may become clear sometime during next week, when it moves to the court.

Likewise, as of Saturday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf remains on the serial number 99 of political parties enlisted on the Election Commission’s website. However, the name of Imran Khan as the party chairman, which was mentioned in this list of political parties on December 20, is missing.