ISLAMABAD: Following the allotment of election symbols, the printing of 260 million ballot papers is underway and will be completed by February 3, Pakistan’s election regulator said on Wednesday, cautioning that continued appeals to change symbols could lead to a delay in elections in some constituencies.
Pakistan’s election process involves thousands of candidates and dozens of political parties and symbols, with a single ballot paper containing a long list of options for voters. A total of 150 symbols have been assigned to political parties and another 174 will be given to independent candidates for this election.
“After the allotment of election symbols, the ECP has ordered the printing of ballot papers to three printing corporations and printing work has started which will be completed on February 3,” ECP spokesperson Syed Nadeem Haider told Arab News.
“18,059 candidates are in the fray for this year’s election and 260 million ballot papers are being printed for both national and provincial assemblies,” he said.
40 million additional ballot papers were being printed compared to 220 million printed in 2018, Haider said, while 800 tons of paper were used in 2018 while an estimated 2070 tons would be used in the upcoming polls.
Commenting on appeals for changes in election symbols by many candidates, Haider cautioned that this could lead to a delay in holding the vote in certain constituencies.
“If the current trend of changing election symbols persists, there is a risk of election delays due to the necessity of reprinting the ballot papers within the already limited timeframe and there is concern about wasting special paper used for the ballots as reprinting will be required,” he said.
“The proposal is also being considered that if this process of changing election symbols does not stop, there will be no other option but to postpone the elections in such constituencies,” Haider added.
Appeals to change symbols have come after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan was stripped of its election symbol of a cricket bat on the grounds that it had not held intra-party elections, a prerequisite for any party to take part in the Feb. 8 vote.
As things stand, Khan’s party now no longer has a single electoral symbol to rally behind and instead, each of his hundreds of candidates has been given separate symbols from an independent symbol list.
The symbols appear on ballot papers, with voters able to put a stamp on their symbol of choice. The ballot paper also has names, but over 40 percent of Pakistan’s 241 million population are illiterate, making the pictures extra important for recognition. Separate symbols for each PTI candidate will also mean extra costs to produce separate campaign material for each candidate.
Pakistan election body starts printing 260 million ballot papers for Feb. 8 polls
https://arab.news/bcz8h
Pakistan election body starts printing 260 million ballot papers for Feb. 8 polls
- Warns continued appeals to change election symbols could lead to delay in elections in some constituencies
- Pakistan’s election process involves thousands of candidates, a single ballot paper has a long list of options for voters
At UNSC, Pakistan warns competition for critical minerals could fuel global conflict
- The demand for critical minerals has surged worldwide due to rapid expansion of electric vehicles, advanced electronics and clean energy technologies
- Pakistan’s representative says all partnerships in critical minerals sector must be ‘cooperative and not exploitative’ and respect national ownership
ISLAMABAD: Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), has warned that intensifying global competition over critical minerals could become a new driver of global conflict, urging stronger international cooperation and equitable access to resources vital for the world’s energy transition.
The warning comes as demand for critical minerals and rare earth elements surges worldwide due to the rapid expansion of electric vehicles, advanced electronics and clean energy technologies, with governments and companies increasingly competing to secure supply chains while raising concerns that this may lead to geopolitical rivalries in the coming years.
Speaking at a Security Council briefing on ‘Energy, Critical Minerals, and Security,’ Ahmad said experience showed that the risks of instability increased where mineral wealth intersected with weak governance, entrenched poverty and external interference.
“Access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy is essential for development, stability and prosperity. The global transition toward renewable energy, electric mobility, battery storage and digital infrastructure has sharply increased the demand for critical minerals,” he said.
“This upsurge has generated new geopolitical and geo-economic pressures. If not managed responsibly, competition over natural resources can affect supply chains, aggravate tensions, undermine sovereignty and contribute to instability.”
In several conflict-affected settings, he noted, illicit extraction, trafficking networks and opaque financial flows have fueled armed conflict and violence, weakened state institutions and deprived populations of legitimate revenues.
“The scramble for natural resources and its linkage to conflict and instability is therefore not new,” Ahmad told UNSC members at the briefing. “Pakistan believes that natural resources must serve as instruments of economic development and shared prosperity, and not coercion or conflict.”
He urged the world to reaffirm the right of peoples to permanent sovereignty over their natural resources, saying all partnerships in the critical minerals sector must be cooperative and not exploitative, respect national ownership, ensure transparent contractual arrangements and align with host countries’ development strategies.
“In order to prevent the exploitation of mineral-producing countries and regions, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected settings, support their capacity-building for strengthening domestic regulatory institutions, combating illicit financial flows, ensuring environmental safeguards, and promoting equitable benefit-sharing with local communities,” he asked member states.
“Promote equitable participation in global value chains. Developing countries must be enabled to move beyond extraction toward processing, refining and downstream manufacturing. Technology transfer, skills development and responsible investment are essential to avoid perpetuating structural imbalances.”
