ISLAMABAD, March 5: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has sought applications from political parties for election symbols, making it clear that applications submitted after March 15 will not be entertained.

Under the Political Parties Order, 2002, the political parties are required to submit details of intra-party elections and statements of assets and liabilities with the ECP to qualify for obtaining election symbols. So far 126 of the 227 parties registered with the ECP are eligible to apply for the election symbols.

Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI), led by Imran Khan, is probably the only mainstream party which does not qualify to get an election symbol as it is still in the process of conducting intra-party polls.

Awami Muslim League (AML), led by former minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, became the first party to apply for an election symbol. His party has sought pen and inkpot as election symbol and ‘moon’ as a ‘standby symbol’.

The number of approved election symbols has reached to 193 after addition of a few more symbols in it.

An official of the ECP said the applications, duly signed by the respective party leader, should reach the Election Commission Secretariat, Islamabad, on or before March 15.

He said applications for allocation of symbols according to requirements of Article 5 of the Allocation of Symbols Order, 2002 must contain information including the list of symbols applied for in order of preference, symbol or symbols, if any, allocated to the political party during the previous general elections, address of the head office of the political party, the name of its President, Secretary General and other office-bearers of the Central Executive Committee, the numerical strength of its members, and copy of election manifesto.

They are also required to inform whether the party was represented in the National or a provincial assembly in the past, and if so, the name and other particulars of such members.

They also need to explain whether the political party has conducted the intra-party elections as required under Article 12 of the Political Parties Order, 2002 and has submitted its due Consolidated Statements of Accounts audited by chartered account as required under Article 13 of the Political Parties Order, 2002.

He said that incomplete applications or requests through fax will not be entertained. The applications received prior to the announcement shall also not be considered. Thus, all such parties, who sent applications prior to the announcement, were required to make fresh applications.

He said Article 6 of the Order describes principles for allocation of symbols. A candidate set-up by a political party at an election in any constituency shall be allotted the symbol reserved for that party and no other symbol, and symbol reserved for a political party by the Commission shall not be allocated to any candidate in any constituency other than the candidate nominated by that political party.