Women vote issue: Political activists protest PHC decision

Women were barred from voting in the Lower Dir by-elections

ISLAMABAD: Civil society members protested against the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) decision to halt fresh by-elections in Lower Dir, and to declare the original results valid despite the fact that women were barred from voting.

Rights activists organised the protest at the National Press Club here on Wednesday, said a press release.

The protesters said that the PHC should, after considering the merits of the case, have allowed civil society to become party to the case rather than giving a decision in favour of the Jamaat-e-Islami’s (JI) on a technicality.

They said that it was a serious setback to the autonomy and independence of the Election Commission of Pakistan with far reaching consequences for future elections.

Women rights activists said that the decision was unacceptable and should be reversed.

They said that any democracy was incomplete without the participation of women.

They condemned the JI and Awami National Party (ANP) for barring around 54,000 women from voting in the 2015 by-elections. They vowed to appeal against the decision in the Supreme Court.

Last year, the ECP had declared the Lower Dir by-elections invalid on the grounds that women had not been allowed to vote. The commission also ordered fresh by-elections.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2016.