When the Sri Lankan president's party formed an unlikely electoral alliance with Marxists, one of their first concerns was choosing an eye-catching logo.
With no time to register as a new party, President Chandrika Kuma-ratunga's joint force took over a small party in hibernation and changed its butterfly symbol to a betel leaf.
PHOTO: AP
Her People's Alliance ditched its old logo of a chair while the Marxists JVP, or People's Liberation Front, dumped their "bell" symbol, and they united under a new ban-ner, the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA).
The traditionally auspicious betel leaf will now do battle with the "elephant" of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's right-wing United National Party in Friday's general election.
"We wanted the blue lotus flower for our new alliance, but the elections commissioner said he cannot give us a symbol which is already the country's national flower," said Mangala Samaraweera, a top aide to Kumaratunga.
With eagles, tortoises, rabbits, horses, bull-drawn carts, three-wheel auto-rickshaws, aircraft, school buses, lamps and cups all competing for space on the ballot papers on April 2, having a distinctive symbol can be crucial.
Even though Sri Lanka boasts a high literacy rate, parties are identified by symbols to ensure that even the few who are unable to read and write can vote by marking an X in front of a symbol.
With margins expected to be narrow, every vote counts.
Wry observers have suggested, however, that some parties would be more appropriately identified by automatic-assault rifles, rocket launchers and grenades rather than their classical musical instruments, and sail ships and anchors.
The Tamil Tiger rebels, who have a tiger with out-stretched paws as their insignia, are not contesting the elections.
But their proxies, the Tamil National Alliance, are represented by a house -- a symbol of comfort and solidity that resonates in Tamil-dominated northern and eastern regions, where few buildings have been spared some form of damage during three decades of ethnic bloodshed that has claimed over 60,000 lives.
There are 24 recognized political parties and 192 independent political groups in the fray at Friday's polls, but some have entered the hustings only to canvas votes for one of the two main parties.
Most of the independent groups are in the running only to use the free radio and television air time allocated to the candidates irrespective of their support base.
The Sri Lanka National Front, which has a cricket bat as its symbol, is actually batting for Kumaratunga's party.
Under election laws the exhibition of party symbols near polling booths on the day of voting is an offence, but most of the objects used in a polling station -- desks, chairs, tables, pens, clocks -- are already party symbols.
When it comes to a visible symbol with impact, though, it might be hard to topple the UNP's elephant.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was