PPP, JUI-F, JI fail to ensure 5% quota for women

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: With just a few days left for general elections, Aurat Foundation (AF) Saturday filed a complaint with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja claiming that few mainstream political parties, including the PPPP, JUI-F, ANP and JI, failed to ensure 5% mandatory quota for women on the general seats.

Last month, the ECP had directed all the political parties to ensure “mandatory” 5 per cent representation of women candidates on general seats under Section 206 of the Elections Act, 2017. In a letter to the CEC, AF claimed: In the National Assembly, the analysis shows that the PPPP, JI, ANP, TLP, JUI-F and BNP have not met the requirement of awarding at least 5% party tickets to women on general seats. The ECP is requested to take cognisance of the matter.

The civil society organisation said that it has undertaken an analysis of 8 political parties contesting election for the National Assembly (NA) and four provincial assemblies. Expressing its disappointment over the findings, the organization said: “We are dismayed to find that some political parties have not observed the legal requirement under section 206 of the said act and section 6 of the code of conduct for political parties, to award a minimum of 5% tickets to women candidates on general seats.”

On the other hand, some political parties complied with Section 206 of the Elections Act 2017, which was a commendable gesture towards women’s political participation, it added. The AF urged the ECP to take strict legal action as per Section 217(1) of the Election Act against those political parties who violated Section 206 and awarded less than the minimum required 5% party tickets to women on the general seats.

The letter also noted that the election regulator has not uploaded separate party lists of the women candidates on general seats on its website till to-date. It further said that AF’s analysis is based on the scrutiny of over 1,000 Forms-33 of each and every constituency of the national and provincial assemblies, with the possibility of a slight margin of error.