10 February 2004	Tuesday	18 Zilhaj 1424

ISLAMABAD, Feb 9: Women legislators belonging to ruling and opposition parties have complained that they are not being given opportunities to play their role in national politics and in the parliament despite having sufficient representation in the country's legislatures.

The women parliamentarians were speaking at a dialogue on "First year of women representation in the parliament: lessons, reflections and the way forward" here on Monday.

The dialogue was held at the launch of USAID-funded three- year project, "Strengthening National and Provincial Governance in Pakistan". The event was organized by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat) in collaboration with Pakistan Legislative Strengthening Consortium. National Assembly speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain presided over the first session.

People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP) MNA Sherry Rehman criticized the speaker for not providing sufficient time to women members to speak on the floor of the House. She said the women should be given time to speak on every national issue in accordance with their increased representation.

She said the women wanted to play an active role in the parliament, but the government was creating hurdles for them. Giving an example, she said she had submitted two bills on women issues, but the government was blocking their presentation.

Ms Rehman claimed that MMA leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed, on the floor of the House, had asked PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain not to allow presentation of a bill on Hudood Ordinance. She asked as to how women could play their role when chief of the ruling party was giving assurances on the floor of the House to block certain bills.

PPP MPA from Sindh Sassi Palejo said the male members of the treasury benches did not allow women to speak during the assembly proceedings. She claimed that they even threatened the women members while speaking on "points of order".

PML-Q Senator Gulshan Saeed said women did not have any support in presentation of bills to the assemblies. She called for setting up of a special secretariat in the parliament for women.

MMA MNA from Balochistan Asiya Nasir said women parliamentarians could not show their qualities last year as assemblies were not functioning properly due to opposition's protests. She accused media of neglecting women MPs. She criticized the attitude of the bureaucracy towards women MPs and stressed the need for taking steps to encourage women participation in legislation. She also demanded 20 per cent representation of women in cabinets.

MMA MPA from the NWFP Naeema Akhtar claimed that the women members of her province had played more active role than the women in other provinces. She said after the installation of MMA government in the NWFP, there were apprehensions that women would now be asked to stay indoor. However, she said, the provincial government had removed all such apprehensions and women in the NWFP were getting due respect and rights. She praised her male counterparts for cooperating with the women members.

In his concluding remarks, the NA speaker stressed the need for developing a culture of tolerance, patience and understanding in the parliament. He said the members were not fully aware of the parliamentary traditions and that was why they were not following the parliamentary principles.

He criticized the members for misusing the "point of order" rule. He said the rule was a tool to help the parliament move in right direction.