PESHAWAR, Aug 24: The Pakistan People’s Party (Sherpao) has denied its workers had restrained women from casting vote or they were involved in suspension of polling at any booth across the province.

In a statement issued here on Wednesday, a PPP-S spokesman expressed surprise over the ‘disinformation campaign’ allegedly launched by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal at the end of the first phase of the local government elections.

He said a review of the MMA’s policies would reflect their ‘narrow-minded’ attitude towards participation of women in all spheres of national life and development.

“So far, the MMA has shown reluctance to female’s participation in the Senate, assemblies and other tiers of the government,” the spokesman said.

He said how the MMA handled the women issues could be gauged from the fact that it had given the ministry of women development to a male minister.

“If this is not mockery of women development then we fail to understand what better example can be given in this regard,” he remarked.

The PPP-S alleged that the MMA had used its women workers to come out on the streets in Karachi for a so-called demonstration against elections in the NWFP.

The spokesman said the gender-friendly efforts of the PPP-S were rewarded as the only female member of the NWFP assembly to be elected on a general seat and the majority of the unopposed lady councillors elected in the local government elections were both members of the PPP-S and the Taraqqi Pasand group, respectively.

In the NWFP, he said, incidents of gang rape, murder of a lady councillor, killing of a female member of the public safety commission and recently the death of an innocent woman during the local government elections had shown the real face of the MMA which was in sharp contrast to the ‘gender-supportive’ policy of the PPP-S.

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