OBJECTION OF PPPP REGARDING ALLOCATION OF SYMBOL BOOK TO ANY POLITICAL PARTY DISCARDED
Islamabad, the 10th December, 2007.— TheSpokesman of Election Commission has stated that the Election Commission of Pakistan in its Meeting held on the 9th December, 2007 under the Chairmanship of Mr. Justice ® Qazi Muhammad Farooq, Hon’ble Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan for allocation of symbols to political parties rejected the application filed by Senator Sardar Latif Khan Khosa praying that symbol ‘Book’ may not be allotted to any political party for the forthcoming General Elections, in that in the last General Elections, the political party allotted the symbol ‘Book’ had equated it with the Holy Quran and thus gained unfair advantage by exploiting the religious susceptibilities of people.
2. The Spokesman of Election Commission further stated that the Election Commission while rejecting the application of Mr. Khosa observed that the symbols allotted to various political parties for General Elections, 2007-08 have been prescribed in Rule 9 (1) of the Representation of the People (Conduct of Election) Rules, 1977 and the symbol ‘Book’ is still included in the list of prescribed symbols and that allocation of a prescribed symbol to a political party cannot be denied merely on the ground that it is likely to exploit the religious feelings of the electorate.