February 11, 2008	Monday	Safar 03, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Feb 10: A total of 482 women candidates are in the field for the 188 reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies.

Of them, 150 are for the National Assembly and 332 for the provincial assemblies.

About 1,000 women had filed nomination papers, of which 528 were accepted. Later, 46 candidates withdrew their candidatures.

The rejection percentage of nomination papers for women candidates was high in the case of the National Assembly, around 43.3 per cent. The highest rejection percentage came from Sindh (48) followed by Punjab (44.5), the NWFP (41.7) and Balochistan (22.7).

In the case of provincial assemblies, 700 candidates had submitted their papers, of which 48.8 per cent (342) were rejected. Punjab had the highest percentage of rejected candidates at 58.6 per cent, followed by Sindh (38), the NWFP (36.10) and Balochistan (30.10).

The legislation granting 33 per cent representation to women in the assemblies had been welcomed by all political parties. But, a study conducted by an NGO, the Centre for Civic Education, shows that women have a very small share in the executive committees of the parties. The central leadership is entirely male dominated and very few women make it to the top of the political leadership.

Another survey shows that more women than men are unregistered on the draft electoral rolls. The highest percentage of unregistered women was observed in Sindh, followed by the NWFP, Balochistan and Punjab. The women may not have been registered due to lack of political awareness, social pressures regarding their political involvement, or for not possessing a valid National Identity Cards.