Delay in appointment of NCSW head bemoaned

Say delay weakens the commission.

Members of the Women’s Action Forum (WAF) met with the National Assembly of Pakistan Women’s Political Caucus’s Secretary on Wednesday to express their concerns regarding the delay in appointment of a chairperson and members of the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW).

In a press release, the organisation has claimed that the government has constituted a different committee comprising only MNAs, senators and advisers from the ruling party to review shortlisted candidates.

WAF has also questioned the procedures through which the handpicked committee was constituted, including the terms of reference, its authority, and why existing procedures were being circumvented.

They also added that NCSW requires adequate time and resources to effectively and independently play its role.

The process for appointing a new chairperson began in July 2015. The relevant ministry took five months to shortlist and forward the names of potential candidates to the prime minister’s office in December 2015.

Instead of sending the names of the top three candidates to the opposition leader, as required by the act, the selection process was delayed till earlier this month.

The law states that the prime minister, in consultation with the leader of the opposition, forwards three names to a parliamentary committee set up by the NA speaker.

The committee is supposed to have equal representation from the treasury and opposition benches, proportional to various parties’ representation in parliament.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 10^th, 2016.