Opposition MPs have been angered by the identification symbols issued to them by the Election Commission of Pakistan. Some candidates claim that by giving ambiguous or humiliating symbols, the authorities are hindering their success in the upcoming elections, the AFP news agency reported.
Amir Mughal addresses his supporters by showing them the eggplant symbol. And even though this is a traditional food in Pakistan.
“Eggplant has now become a famous symbol across Pakistan,” said a candidate from the country’s capital, Islamabad. “Now it has become the king of vegetables.”
He is a follower of the now arrested former Prime Minister of the country, Imran Khan. Khan, however, has been barred from running in the election and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has been stripped of its long-standing symbol of the cricket bat for not complying with the Election Commission’s rules.
Eggplant, or “baingan” in Pakistani Urdu, is a staple in Pakistani cuisine. True, over time, this vegetable has also acquired a symbolic meaning, because in everyday communication and also in social networks, it denotes the male genitalia.
“The Election Commission has given us this symbol to make fun of us,” said 46-year-old Mughal.
However, Mughal’s team has not lost its desire to win and the politician was followed by his assistant with a bag full of eggplants. They also decorate the stages from which he performs.
A politician uses it as a talisman and, when addressing voters, holds it up high just like Shakespeare’s character Hamlet, holding a skull in his hands and contemplating life.
Pakistani parliamentary election candidate Amir Mughal with the symbol given to him – eggplant
Photo: AFP, FAROOQ NAEEM
Another MP was given a bed symbol in the election. Ejaz Gadan romantically describes his constituency in the eastern province of Punjab as the homeland of his ancestors and also the “last resting place” of his people.
Perhaps that is why he was given the bed symbol.
“They tried to humiliate us with the symbols they are giving us. Some candidates are uncomfortable telling people what symbol they have received,” complained the 50-year-old politician from Bahawalpur. “It’s not an election, it’s an atrocity.”
His symbol is a simple wooden-framed bed with springs made of woven rope, well-known in Pakistan’s lower-income housing.
“It is a very useful household item. When we are alive, this bed allows us to rest. When we die, it takes us on our final journey,” Gadan said.
“My symbol is already available in every household. I don’t need to introduce it to my constituents.”
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, which is believed to be backed by the military, is campaigning with the fearsome lion symbol. However, Gadan is not worried about such competition.
“The lion is a bloodthirsty beast,” he told the AFP news agency. “There is no place for such beasts in our society.”
In North West Pakistan, however, Shehriyar Afridi was outraged when he was handed the bottle symbol.
He was angered and ashamed by the fact that in the local Pashtun language, calling someone a bottle means that he is an “empty vessel” – empty and without the ability to think.
It also means drinking alcohol while the province he represents is dominated by conservative Islam.
“Most of the PTI candidates, including me, were given symbols meant to create negative sentiment,” said the 45-year-old candidate from Kohat city. “We are deliberately given symbols to ridicule us.”
Afridi appealed to the High Court of the provincial capital, Peshawar, but his appeal was not heard.
“When we went out during the election campaign, we got so many complaints about the bottle symbol that it automatically sabotaged our campaign,” he said.
But over time, he ingeniously decided to change people’s associations with this subject.
“The bottle symbolizes not only alcohol but also medicine,” he said. “That is why we have transformed our election symbol into a medicine bottle – so that we can address all the ills of society.”
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2024-02-04 09:31:13
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