Mianwali District: NGO welcomes jirga decision on women voting

LAHORE:

The Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO) has welcomed a jirga’s decision to allow women in the Mustafa Paaikhel area of Mianwali district to exercise their right to vote.

A tribal jirga had stopped women in the region from voting in 1956. On Sunday, a jirga convened by Ayla Malik, a former MNA and Tehreek-i-Insaf leader, at the residence of Razaul Mustafa Niazi took back the decision.  In a statement issued on Monday, the SPO said that it had been working in the area since March 2012 trying to convince locals of the importance of voting. It said it called meetings to urge political parties and Election Commission officials to persuade locals to allow women to vote.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2012.