Female parliamentarians agreed to work towards building consensus among political parties to provide a minimum of 10 per cent quota for women on “winnable” seats before the next elections, said a press release on Thursday.
The declaration was made by the Women Parliamentary Caucus on the one-day roundtable conference titled “Strengthening Women’s Representation in Political and Legislative Process” to initiate a dialogue with political parties on the different ways to strengthening women’s representation in legislative assemblies.
Speaking at the occasion, Deputy Chairman Senate Mir Jan Jamali highlighted the role women have played in the legislative process in recent years. He acknowledged the nexus between sustainable development and the role of women and recommended the need to give a minimum of 33 per cent women’s representation in the legislative assemblies.
Nafisa Shah, a PPP Member National Assembly, in her opening remarks, referred to the proactive performance of the female legislators in the national and provincial assemblies. “The political parties should take measures to enhance women’s participation in the legislatures, making it more transparent and effective,” she said.
Representatives from PPP, PML-N and ANP among others attended the conference.
The parliamentarians committed to protect and preserve the provision of reserved seats for women in the National Assembly, Senate and the provincial assemblies. “We want to enhance women’s representation in legislatures by working within our respective political parties,” said a participant; she added, “Women’s representation at all levels of decision making in the political forums should be increased.”
The participants also paid tributes to Fatima Jinnah, Rana Liaqaut Ali and Benazir Bhutto for their contribution to the cause of women in the country.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th, 2011.
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