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.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
‘HYANGDO’: A South Korean lawmaker said there was no credible evidence to support rumors that Kim Jong-un has a son with a disability or who is studying abroad South Korea’s spy agency yesterday said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, who last week accompanied him on a high-profile visit to Beijing, is understood to be his recognized successor. The teenager drew global attention when she made her first official overseas trip with her father, as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Analysts have long seen her as Kim’s likely successor, although some have suggested she has an older brother who is being secretly groomed as the next leader. The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) “assesses that she [Kim Ju-ae]
RSS