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Giant billboards and simple symbols to help Pakistan go to the polls
"Insya Allah (God willing), I will vote," said Muhammad Imran, a resident of Rawalpindi on Sunday
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"Insya Allah (God willing), I will vote," said Muhammad Imran, a resident of Rawalpindi on Sunday.
Not far from Islamabad, Rawalpindi was the scene of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's recent murder and posters of her party, the Pakistan People's Party, were among the most widespread in the city.
But Imran said it was a local candidate, Nawaz Sharif, who had done much for his city.
Nawaz had improved roads and schools, Imran said, pointing to a large poster of his party, the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N), including the symbol of the tiger.
The roads and markets here were bustling one day ahead of Monday's vote for 272 seats in the National Assembly and 577 seats in the Provincial Assembly.
Registered voters total 81.03 million, but locals said fears of violence may see less than the average 40 percent voter turnout recorded in previous elections.
By Sunday morning the death toll from the latest suicide bombing outside the PPP's office in the Parachinar area in northern Pakistan had reached 47, with dozens wounded.
In addition to giant billboards advertising major parties are promotions by independent candidates, which number 99 out of 146 contestants in the polls, an election officer said.
Some independents have banners spread across pedestrian bridges, while others have simple pamphlets to hand to potential voters.
But one independent candidate, Qazi Ilyas, told Dawn News TV "the elections should not just be for the rich people".
Reports said many parties in past elections had fielded mostly landlords, perpetuating feudal ties across the country's political landscape.
Ilyas' election symbol was a loudspeaker because he said the poor had only their voices to be heard.
Election party symbols, in addition to candidate photographs, will be vital images attached to ballot boxes in a country with an estimated national literacy rate of 42 percent.
Apart from the tiger, or sometimes the lion, of Nawaz Sharif's party, the arrow of Bhutto's PPP and the bicycle of the party linked to President Pervez Musharraf, the PML-Q, the other 143 symbols include a pair of scissors, a water jug, a vase, a rabbit, a duck and a hen -- even a picture of an old telephone and television set.
From the sports world there is a bat and a soccer ball.
Many observers have said loyal ties to established families, tribes and clans strongly determine voter behavior, including loyalties to the Bhuttos in their home Sindh province and to the Sharifs of Punjab.
Researcher Ijaz Gilani said such observations were "based on past experiences".
Gilani, who set up the Pakistan-branch of the polling body Gallup Pakistan in 1980, said the major parties had developed large vote banks outside their home provinces, making them national parties.
Responding to fears of election rigging, Gilani said observers would be "looking in the wrong place".
Instead of election day, he said rigging would more likely occur before and after the polls, citing possible "illegal interference" from the president or his state machinery to influence the process of political coalitions following the result of elections.
Though Gilani said he feared a "political crisis," he told visiting Indonesian journalists on Saturday that civil society was showing signs of strengthening.
Recent civilian protests, such as those against Musharraf's crackdown on the judiciary, demonstrated it was now "the people telling the president to follow the law", he said.
And humorous text messages made the rounds on Sunday, one of which was shared with The Jakarta Post: "A man caught a fish and brought it home to be cooked by his wife. But she said she had no water, electricity or gas to cook it with. So he threw it back into the sea, and the fish jumped up and cried, Musharraf zindah baad! Long live Musharraf!"
Officials continue to remind the public not to negate the achievements of the president's rule. On Saturday he officially opened the Karakoram highway linking Pakistan and China.
