Women in Darel, Tangir unlikely to vote

GILGIT: Women in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Darel and Tangir valleys are unlikely to vote in the legislative elections today in the absence of separate polling booths.
Insiders familiar with the matter told The Express Tribune, efforts to hire women staff remained largely unsuccessful and caused a delay in setting up separate booths for women.
“Few women are educated in the valley so we can’t assign them this task,” said Ghulam, a resident of Tangir, said on Sunday. “The government should arrange women polling staff otherwise it will be difficult for women to vote.”
Another resident said little progress has been made in this regard. “I don’t think the government intends to take any steps to allow women to vote,” he added.
When contacted, the election commission in Gilgit said it was not aware of the situation.
“ROs are in a better position to comment,” said an official.
DROs Sohail Ahmed and Mushtaq Ahmed could not be contacted.
Residents believe women in the valleys were deprived of their right to vote in 2009 and the problem is likely to repeat itself.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2015.