ISLAMABAD: The leadership of Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB) Legislative Assembly on Thursday called for political and electoral reforms to ensure equitable women representation in legislatures.

Speaking at the Experience Sharing Workshop for Women Legislators of both the assemblies, the GB Legislative Assembly Speaker Syed Amjad Ali Zaidi and the KP Deputy Speaker Mahmood Jan vowed to make the Assemblies’ environment conducive for women legislators.

Organised by the Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability and Free and Fair Election Network (TDEA-Fafen), the workshop was part of women leadership development programme that sought to support reserved-seat women legislators to contest upcoming elections on general seats. The workshop comprised talks and discussions led by parliamentary experts, senior officials of both the assemblies’ secretariats, and civil society leaders.

GB Speaker Syed Amjad Ali Zaidi urged the women legislators to garner influence among their political parties, civil society, local communities and media in order to enhance their chances of contesting on general seats.

KP Deputy Speaker Mahmood Jan acknowledged the struggles that the reserved seat women legislators face in performing their legislative duties.

Reaffirming his support to the women’s cause, he said there was a need to consider structural reforms focusing on enhancing women representation on general seats.

GB Deputy Speaker Nazeer Ahmad Advocate assured his support to establish Women Parliamentary Caucus in the GB assembly. He lauded the efforts of women legislators in performing their role as elected representatives and emphasised the need for sustained interaction among sister legislatures for strengthening parliamentary norms in the GB region.

Discussing the struggles women face in electioneering, women legislators said limited political exposure, gender bias in male-dominated political parties and discrimination in provision of development funds were among the major reasons that restrict women from building their geographical constituencies to contest direct elections.  

The women legislators urged the political and parliamentary leadership to play their role in creating an enabling environment where women can realise the constitutional guarantee of non-discrimination on the basis of sex in all walks of life.

Chief Executive Officer of TDEA Shahid Fiaz emphasised upon adopting a holistic approach for women mainstreaming in politics to address the structural, attitudinal, institutional and personal levels that hinder the women’s journey to political power.

Acknowledging the role of reserved seat women in bringing pro-women legislation, he reminded the participants that the drafters of the Constitution intended the reservation of seats a temporary measure to bring women in political mainstream.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2021