ISLAMABAD: Parliament and democracy owe the women of Pakistan a lot for their struggles against military rule and their sacrifices for strengthening democracy in the country, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani said on Monday.

He was speaking at a ceremony titled ‘A Tribute to Women Parliamentarians’. An analytical report by Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) was also launched at the ceremony.

Fafen organised the event in collaboration with Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability (TDEA).

Mr Rabbani said: “From Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah to Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, women have played a big role for upholding democracy in the country.

The Senate chairman also talked about the role played by civil society in creating awareness about the bigger problems faced by the country.

“The civil society, especially student and trade unions, remained at the forefront in the fight against dictatorship,” he said.

According to Fafen’s report, women made up about 18pc of the members of both the National Assembly and the Senate. The report goes on to say that 89 women parliamentarians contribute almost 60pc of the agenda taken up in both houses over the last year.

According to the report, there are 70 women MNAs in the current government of whom 60 are on general seats, nine on reserved and one on minority. This makes up for 20.46pc of the total representation of the house, which has 342 members.

About the upper house, the report says there are currently 19 women senators of whom 17 have come on reserved seats and two on general. They make up 18.26pc of the total representation of the Senate, which has a total 104 members.

Speakers at the event said the representation of women in parliament should be increased as they make up half the population and that the contributions of women towards the economy and politics of the country are not proportional because of cultural and social barriers.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2016