Women Reserved Seats: LHC questions legal provision

LAHORE: Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah of Lahore High Court on Thursday issued the federal government and the Election Commission of Pakistan among other respondents, a notice on a petition challenging the legal provision for reserved seats for women in the national and Punjab assemblies. The judge gave the respondents till September 7 to file their replies. Petitioner Advocate Tariq Aziz Malik said there were 188 seats reserved for women in the parliament and provincial assemblies to which women MPs were nominated. He said this was illegal and unconstitutional, as Article 226 of the Constitution says all elections must be held through secret ballot. He said appointment of women on reserved seats was unconstitutional. These reserved seats cost the national exchequer Rs1 billion in salaries, perks and privileges. There is no justification for the allocation of these seats. “These could be allocated to technocrats so that experts from various fields could come to the parliament to play a solid role in the progress of the country.” He said a full bench of the Supreme Court had already held that election on reserves seats was ultra vires of the Constitution. He requested the court to declare appointment of women on reserved seats unconstitutional.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2015.