The budget allotted to candidates coming in on reserved seats is less than the elected candidates.
INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY, ISLAMABAD: The new elected government has been formed and parliamentarians have taken their oaths. Reserved seats for women have also been occupied by women. Fixing a number of seats for women in the National Assembly only ensures their presence but not participation. The new government should focus on the impediments faced by women parliamentarians within parliament and their participation must be ensured.
The budget allotted to candidates coming in on reserved seats is less than the elected candidates. Such discrimination within the parliament is to be condemned widely and women and minorities on reserved seats should have access to an equal budget, same as their other colleagues in the same house.
On the other hand, it is now also the responsibility of reserved seat holders to truly address the problems and issues faced by the subjugated groups of society they are representing in the parliament. Women parliamentarians should now focus on the real problems faced by the common Pakistani woman and bring them to the floor to address these issues and emancipate women for the sake of women empowerment.
Bills concerning women’s representation in public sector, women’s rights and their protection should be introduced by female representatives in the legislatures, women’s commissions, the Ministry of Women Development and Women’s Parliamentary Caucus. An active role of all these institutions is needed and they should strive to address the concerns of Pakistani women across the country and truly represent women in all public spheres.
Khushboo Ali
Research Fellow, Iqbal International Institute for Research & Dialogue
Published in The Express Tribune, July 27th, 2013.
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