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JI retains KP seat in by-polls; women stay away
TIMERGARA: Jamaat-i-Islami retained its Lower Dir seat in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in a by-election on Thursday. The PK-95 seat had fallen vacant in March after the party’s Emir, Sirajul Haq, was elected senator.
According to unofficial results, JI’s Izazul Mulk Afkari defeated his nearest rival, Haji Bahadur Khan of the Awami National Party, by 3,856 votes. The Jamaat candidate bagged 19,812 votes while the ANP man got 15,954.
During the 2013 general elections, JI had won this seat with a margin of around 12,000 votes. Sirajul Haq had received 23,030 votes while his rival, Hidayatullah Khan of ANP, got 11,130.
However, the most newsworthy aspect of the day was the total absence of women from polling booths. Not even one, out of the 47,280 women registered to vote, came to exercise her right at any of the 85 polling stations.
District election commission officer Inayat Khan told Dawn that arrangements had been made at all the 85 polling stations in PK-95 for women voters. Women polling staffers were deployed at every polling booth and they waited till 5pm for women voters.
He further said announcements were made on mosques’ loudspeakers to motivate women for casting their votes. But, he regretted, no woman came to cast her vote.
The JI chief, Sirajul Haq, told reporters that his party had never opposed voting by women. He appealed to women voters to come to polling stations and cast their votes.
The ANP candidate told Dawn that none of the political parties had made a tacit understanding to bar women from voting this time. He said that he had no authority to bring women by force for casting votes.
The protestations of politicians notwithstanding, this was not the first time that women had stayed away from polling stations in the province. In a number of instances, the candidates themselves are known to have asked women openly to abstain from voting.
In other cases, there was a tacit understanding to discourage women from exercising their right of franchise.
Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2015
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Comments (14) Closed
If women are not allowed to vote where JI is contesting then why do JI needs a women wing to work for the party. For what women of JI are struggling and striving for ?
Sad moment that no women voter came to vote. What a desparity between remote rural areas and urban areas of our country. Politician are to be blamed for not motivating the women voters.
Tactical understanding? Apparently parties have learned lesson from 2013 elections by not putting this understanding on paper. SirajUlHaq won this seat in 2013 while women were banned to cast their votes under a written agreement signed by JI, JUI, PPP, ANP, PML-N and PTI representatives.
@Khan rightly said
Haleem, did anyone ask the women why they didn't vote?
Well isn't it the worst form of fear where women are not allowed to vote? What is the credibility of such an election? What is the credibility of political parties reaching on such a consent whereas in big cities they project a different image. We are such hypocrites. I wish ECP strike it down to make a point
Can't the Election Commission nullify the election as void without women participation?
hmmmm......Naya KP....naya Pakistan I guess ??? that's great ! :)
Why not "SUO MOTO"action is being taken by any court of law and not be allowed to Election commission for official announcement of result.
Human right commission of Pakistan is also sleeping.
Why not "Suo Moto "action is being taken by any court of law :( Well isn't it the worst form of fear where women are not allowed to vote? What is the credibility of such an election? Human right commission of Pakistan is also sleeping. :-/
'Traditions' were blamed for women not voting but actually it is the backwardness and men's illiteracy which prevented women. The result should be declared null and void.
@Khan women have a constitutional right to vote throughout the country
Well to all my dear commenters, in our religion woman's rule (government) is now allowed as every Muslim is well aware of it! If you are against of, than say openly that we don't accept this clause, in spite of being hypocritical Muslims. If Islam has discriminated with women on this occasion than women could have done a prominent achievement in history what she could not despite being in her hands! For instance Women have not done any prominent thing in history like scientist and so on. Although I am a feminist but a rational figure too.