ISLAMABAD: An observation report titled Women in Elections 2018 was launched by the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) on Thursday.

The report was launched in collaboration with Heinrich Boll Stiftung and Democracy Reporting International. Election Commission of Pakistan Secretary Babaq Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad was invited as the chief guest.

NCSW Chairperson Khawar Mumtaz said at the launch that the 2018 elections were part of a journey of the political participation of women and the raising of their voices, “starting from Shaista Ikramullah and Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz, and we can see the incremental progress”.

“Many times what we have seen is that general political activism provides the space for women to also progress,” she said.

Observation report on Women in Elections 2018 launched

“The general elections of 2018 were very significant from the point of view of women. It was also the first election under the new Elections Act 2017 which has specific provisions for the women’s fuller participation not only for the mandatory quota for tickets for women in political parties and 10pc minimum turnout of women in a constituency to declare a result valid, but also for its inclusion of persons with disabilities and transgenders and institution of the postal ballot,” she added.

The author of the report, Naheed Aziz, said: “There are structural concerns, such as patriarchy and issues of mobility, and until these are addressed it will not be possible to have full participation of women in the political process.

“The 5pc rule for political parties was barely met and in many cases it was met as a formality. Women were given tickets for unwinnable seats and not much support was provided to women in terms of resources and otherwise.”

Ms Aziz also highlighted that the increased fee may have served as a deterrent for independent women candidates and despite the rules, six out of the 94 contesting political parties did not give any women tickets.

Raheela Durrani, former MPA and speaker of the Balochistan Assembly, spoke at the launch of her own experience as a woman who successfully contested a general seat in Quetta.

She said her party did not give her an unwinnable seat, instead letting her choose where she would contest from.

Ms Durrani said that when she entered politics, the field was not considered an appropriate one for women, but she is now a role model for young women.

She added that women candidates and politicians should meet to support each other irrespective of party lines.

Rural and urban women and women from the tribal areas and Balochistan have very different levels of participation, and there numbers should be looked at, retired Justice Mehta Kailah Nath Kohli said.

He said the report found that disabled and senior citizens were not sufficiently supported to participate in the elections.

There were 105.99 million registered voters in the 2018 elections, 55.87pc men and 44pc women – a gender gap of 12.5m compared to 10.97m in 2013.

Addressing the event, DRI country representative Javed Ahmed Malik traced the role women played in the Pakistan Movement.

“There is a galaxy of women parliamentarians who helped the Pakistan Movement, so for us this is not an international funded objective. We also have the constitutionally guaranteed right of political participation,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2018