Female MPAs call for women-centred electoral reforms

Women legislators from provincial assemblies of Sindh and Balochistan called for women-centered electoral and political reforms to realize the constitutional guarantees of equality of citizens and non-discrimination on the basis of sex.

They demanded measures to bind political parties to ensure fair women representation on decision-making positions within the political parties as well as legislatures.

They also demanded effective measures to regulate the electoral and political finance in order to make elections affordable for most citizens, especially women.

The legislators belonging to all parliamentary parties regretted that the political parties award tickets to women for unwinnable constituencies in order to comply with Section 206 of the Elections Act 2017, which requires parties to ensure five per cent representation of women in selection of candidates for elective offices.

The legislators identified the last minute announcement of party candidates as a major hurdle that hampered their efforts to run effective campaigns in the assigned constituencies.

These recommendations were made during a workshop on Legislative Participation and Representation. The program seeks to support reserved-seat women legislators to contest upcoming elections on general seats.

Leading parliamentarians, secretariat officials from Provincial Assemblies of Sindh and Balochistan, and civil society representatives addressed the workshop.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23^rd, 2021.