ISLAMABAD: With the general elections just days away, the Aurat Foundation (AF) on Saturday filed a complaint with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, saying that several major political parties, including PPPP, ANP, JUI-F and JI have failed to ensure a 5% mandatory quota for women in general seats.
Last month, the ECP directed all political parties to ensure a “mandatory” 5% representation of women in general seats under Section 206 of the Elections Act, 2017.
In a letter to the CEC, the Aurat Foundation claimed: In the National Assembly, analysis shows that PPPP (PPP), JI, ANP, TLP, JUI-F and BNP failed to meet the requirement of giving at least 5% of party tickets to women in the general seat. The ECP has been requested to take notice of the matter.
The civil society organization said it conducted an analysis of eight political parties running in the National Assembly (NA) and four provincial assemblies’ elections.
Expressing its disappointment at the findings, the organization said: “We are appalled to learn that some political parties have failed to comply with the statutory 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% of tickets to women candidates for general seats.”
On the other hand, some political parties complied with Section 206 of the Electoral Act 2017, which was a commendable gesture towards women’s political participation, the AF added.
It called on the ECP to take strict legal action under Section 217(1) of the Electoral Act against those political parties that violated Section 206 and awarded less than the minimum required 5% of party tickets to women in general seats.
The letter also states that the election regulator has not uploaded separate party lists of female candidates for general seats on its website to date.
It further stated that AF’s analysis is based on a review of over 1,000 Form-33 of each National and Provincial Assembly constituency with a margin of error.
The AF noted that all political parties present an affidavit when preparing their election programme that they have complied with the provisions of the law, including Section 206.
“If they have not met the minimum requirement of giving 5% tickets to women in general seats, it should be considered a case of misrepresentation.”
