Can the Electoral Reforms Committee of the Parliament answer a simple question whether or not the reserved seats for women in the National Assembly is a monopoly of the elite or can it be termed as a democracy?
According to the document of the National Assembly, “Member of the National Assembly is elected by direct vote of the people. Here comes a crunch question to the fore: hat about the omen MNAs on reserved seats.
These women do not participate in the election, no one directly votes for them, nor do they have any constituency, but they become members of the National Assembly. Will Mr. Ayaz Sadiq give guidance as to why and how?
Article 25 of the Constitution states: all citizens are equal before the law and equally entitled to legal protection. Also, no discrimination will be done on the basis of gender.
If there is a prohibition of discrimination on the basis of gender, then will it not be considered a contradiction to keep specific seats on the basis of gender?
Although in sub-section 3 of the same Article 25, special arrangements have been made for the protection of women, but what is the relationship of this arrangement of reserved seats on the basis of gender with the protection of women?
Similarly, in Article 34 of the Constitution, there is talk of ensuring women’s involvement in all areas of national life, but what does this have to do with specific seats in the National Assembly?
Apparently, this law was designed to increase the participation of women in national life, but in practice, the doors of parliament could not be opened to women despite this law, and only a few families and women in a few cities benefited from this law.
Political parties submit a list of their women candidates for specific seats.
According to a report of FAFN (Free and Fair Election Network) on February 2, 2023, 57 percent of women elected to specific seats in the National Assembly are residents of only six major cities, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta.
59 percent of women elected to specific seats in the Punjab Assembly belong to Lahore.
66 percent of the Sindh Assembly belongs to Karachi.
In Balochistan Assembly 73% belong to Quetta and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 50% belong to Peshawar.
Out of the 136 districts of the country, there are 105 districts out of which there is not a single member of the National Assembly on the specific seats.
Similarly, 23 districts of Punjab, 32 districts of Balochistan, 30 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 20 districts of Sindh have no representation of women on specific seats in the National Assembly.
