President Asif Ali Zardari, Tuesday, has approved issuance of a notification by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to amend the Representation of the People (Conduct of Election) Rules, 1977.

President, on the advice of the Prime Minister, approved some more symbols in the existing list and also to omit one symbol that created confusion due to its resemblance.
Spokesperson to the President Senator Farhatullah Babar said that at present there are 217 political parties enlisted with the Election Commission whereas the numbers of total available symbols are 171 as provided under sub-rule (1) of rule 9 of the Representation of the People (Conduct of Election) Rules 1977. These Rules, he said, were recently amended vide notification issued on 1st January 2013.
The spokesperson said that the Election Commission has decided that some new symbols should be added into the list of existing symbols and that the symbol “Cat” be deleted from the list due to its resemblance with the symbol “Tiger”.
It may be mentioned that under Section 107 of the Representation of the People Act 1976, the Commission, with the approval of the President, may make rules for carrying out the purposes of the Act. With the issuance of the notification, approved on Tuesday by the President, the following symbols shall be added into the list of symbols.
Baby cot, Balloons, Bangles, Cannon, Crocodile, Dish antenna, Fort, Hud Hud, Hukkah, Human Eye, Human Hand, Jeep, Kangroo, Key, Key chain, Key with lock, Kite, Knife, Khyber Pass, Pressure cooker, School Bag, Stapler, Sun, Swing, Top, Tooth brush and Tortoise. The Symbol of “Cat” at serial No. 29 in the aforesaid Rules shall be omitted.