August 17, 2021: The political rights of women are recognized in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Article 25 of the constitution negates any discrimination against women as it explicitly states that “there shall be no discrimination on the basis of sex.” Pakistan is a democratic state and democracy requires equal access and full participation of both women and men at all levels of public life, especially decision-making positions. Despite the legal right, women have traditionally remained underrepresented due to systemic challenges and have failed to take up positions in the political and public sphere. The major hurdles behind the underrepresentation, lack of empowerment and absence in decision making process, are structural inequalities and existing patriarchal structure of the society.
In order to enhance women’s full and equal participation in decision making processes and to overcome the cultural and structural barriers, advocacy for policy reforms in political parties and electoral system is the best possible way to overcome such obstacles. By adopting this strategy, the members of Coalition for Inclusive Pakistan (CIP) from Bannu met with the delegation of office bearers belonging to Pakistan Peoples Parliamentarians Party (PPPP), led by Mr. Salim Shah, Divisional President People’s Labor Bureau. In the meeting, the CIP representatives requested the delegation to include a proportional number of women in their party’s cabinet at local level. By doing so the women’s political participation will be enhanced and will contribute towards empowering them.
The PPPP delegation agreed with the request of CIP members and also invited them to join for a party’s district level meeting to be held at District Secretariat in the coming month. The delegation also asked the CIP members to share demands related to women’s representation in the party. With that, the party members appreciated the efforts of CIP and extended their support to share the demands with the leadership in the upcoming meetings.
