Obstacles to women’s participation IN pAKISTAN

Barriers to women’s political participation exist throughout the world. These obstacles reside
in prevailing social and economic regimes as well as in existing political structures. Social and
economic obstacles to women’s participation include the unequal distribution of resources,
lack of tradition and motivation to actively intervene in politics, the electorate’s lack of confidence
in women, economic and social criteria for political candidacy and exigencies of availability
that political activity demands.
1 Political Parties
So far, the increased participation of women within the political parties has not led to a significant
number of women appointees in important positions within the parties. In the absence of
regular elections within most of the political parties, leaders usually nominate party activists to
party positions within the party organizations.
Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP), which claims to be a liberal party, has only
one female and 36 male member in its Central Executive Committee (PPPP, 2004). There are
five women in the history of Pakistan, namely Fatima Jinnah (PML), Benazir Bhutto (PPPP),
Nusrat Bhutto (PPP), Ginwa Bhutto (Shaheed Bhutto Group) and Nasim Wali Khan (ANP),
who have been the leaders of their respective political parties. However, all of them inherited
their political careers from their brother, husband or father and subsequently emerged as politicians
in their own right.
A Nazim is the co-ordinator of cities and towns in Pakistan. Nazim is the title of chief elected official of a local
government, such as a Distrct, Tehsil, Union Council or Village Council.The Chief Nazim is a District Nazim who
is elected by the Nazims of Union Councils, Union Councillors and Tehsil Nazims, who themselves are elected
directly by the votes of the local public.
A Naib Nazim is a deputy Nazim. Apart from assistance, Naib Nazim performs the duties of Nazim in his absence.
In Pakistan, all political parties have specified their women’s wings. However, the membership
of women’s wings is much smaller than the male membership of the party. These wings
do not have any visible influence on the decision making processes and political programmes
of their parties. In general, the parties mobilize women folk during elections to work as polling
agents in women’s booths, and demonstrate, on behalf of the party, when directed by the
party’s high command. Political parties tend to allocate the reserved seats to their family members.
This reflects the inadequacy of the commitments of political parties and the ineffectiveness
of any attempt to bring women into mainstream politics.
During the 2008 elections, there were far more women who applied for party tickets to contest
the elections than political parties were willing to grant. Many who were refused tickets by
their political parties decided to contest election as independents. However, all of them with
the exception of Robina Watto from Okara lost. This shows opposing trends in politics where
political parties continue to resist the granting of party tickets to female candidates whereas
women’s aspirations to become representatives within public domain are moving beyond constraints
(Bari: 2008).
Religious parties and tribal and feudal structures dismiss the electoral rights of women. During
the time of local bodies’ elections, religious parties in NWFP convened a meeting where an
election agreement was signed by the representatives of different parties to keep women away
from contesting the polls. In Swabi, Mardan and Dir districts, women were not just prevented
from filling their nomination paper but from even casting votes. In Malakand division, religious
leaders gathered to declare that the Nikah, Namaaz-I-Janaza and all other religious rites
of women candidates and voters would be boycotted (Mooraj, 2004). Some women councilors
in Dir have been stopped from performing their duties. It is even more appalling that the male
relatives of these women attend council sessions on their behalf (Dawn, 2006).
In the 2008 elections, the kind of change discussed above is refreshing. For the first time,
women in South Waziristan voted. True, there were other areas, both in FATA and in the NWFP,
where they were regrettably denied the ballot but against this backdrop, the decision of the
Tribal elders in South Waziristan and other places to allow women to vote was a welcome one.
This indicated that elders were willing to change by breaking with tradition and defying the
militants. (The News: 2008)
2 Quota system
The quota system aims to increase women’s representation to address the problem of underrepresentation
of women. Quotas have been viewed as one of the most effective affirmative
actions in increasing women’s political participation. It has a positive impact on the number
of women represented. The quota system has increased the seats of women in assemblies but
it is a temporary measure to achieve gender balance. It does not facilitate the real political
empowerment and the democratic participation of women. Women are treated as mere fillers
for statistics without real political and economic power. This system provides only symbolic
representation to women.
A certain quota of seats was especially reserved for women in Parliament since the 1946
elections. This tradition of reservation of seats for women continued to be required in the 1956,
1962 and 1973 Constitutions. Although the 1973 Constitution fixed reservation for women for
two more general elections or ten years, whichever came later, the provision was to expire.
This provision expired in the 1990 elections and has not been revised since. Despite commitments
by both the major political parties, the women’s reserved seats have not been restored
(Saiyid, 2001). Now General Pervez Musharaf Government has the credit of increasing women’s
reserved seats to sixty.Although women’s representation in the assemblies has increased quotas, they do not work
in isolation: they cannot be separated from dominant societal attitudes and norms. The socioeconomic
position of women in society means they are treated unequally by the men in the
assemblies and their views are not taken seriously. Due to the lack of actual participation of
women in politics, within political parties and towards a real knowledge of the political process,
these women look towards their male political masters for direction.
3 Cultural values
Traditional roles and tasks assumed by women at home and activities outside home are presented
as conflicting. The culturally accepted principle that women must first fulfill their responsibility
at home and to their families hinders their entry and progress in politics (CID, 2002).
Balancing family and career is a challenge to them. Generally society discourages women’s
activities outside the home, as it is harmful to their family life.
Women are perceived to have primary responsibility as wives and mothers. Hence, a political
career may well come in these cases as a second or third job (Matland, 2004). The stigma
of Politics as ‘dirty’ is somewhat connected to the previous notion.
Illiteracy is another problem. A gender gap exists in education. Primary school enrollment
for girls stands at 60% as compared to 84% for boys. The secondary school enrollment ratio
is even more discouraging: 32 and 46% for females and males, respectively. The adult female
literacy rate is 29%. This gap is directly linked to the lower status of women in society and certain
social norms that discourage empowerment of women as well as women’s participation in
the formal economic sector (Dawn, 2004).
The fact that women’s economic participation is undermined is not accounted for in the
national statistics. Culturally, women’s wage work is considered a threat to the male ego and
identity. Women enter the labor market on unequal terms vis-à-vis men and their occupational
choices are limited due to social and cultural constraints. They are considered inferior because
of women’s primary role as homemakers.
The agricultural sector employs 79% of female labor force as compared with 57.3% of male
workers. The majority of women in the urban sector work in low paying jobs. In the service
sector, 63.2% of female workers are employed. Among the Federal Government Civil Servants
43.3% are working in basic pay scale grade 9 and below, while not a single women is working
in grade 22, which is the highest basic pay scale in Pakistan (South Asian Media, 2006).
4 Lack of unity among women parliamentarians
In Pakistan, women have a marginalized role in the parliament. During the sessions of the Senate
in 2003-04, women senators raised only 201 (7%) out of a total of 2,769 questions. Similarly,
out of 335 resolutions, only 43 (12%) were moved by women senators, and out of total of
400 motions, only 26 (7%) motions were passed by them (PILDAT, 2004).
Female parliamentarians are not keen to take up women’s issues because of party politics.
We must consider the role of women parliamentarians who came on the reserved seats for
women. Gender quotas are argued on several grounds but the key argument for this affirmative
action measure often includes: (a) the fact that women constitute half of the world population,
therefore, it is simply an issue of justice to reflect their numerical strength in political institutions;
(b) women have a specific perspective on politics and political issues, therefore, their
presence will make a difference to politics and (c) they have special interests due to their reproductive
roles and subordinate position in society, therefore, they must be present in political
decision making bodies to represent and protect women’s interests (Bari, 2006).
The Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP), when they were in power, twice, didnot move a bill repealing discriminatory laws against women on the pretext of lacking a two
third’s majority to annul or amend the law. PPPP in opposition today needs to project itself as a
liberal pro-women party (Bari 2004), so it supported the bill when moved by government.
Female members of parliament also failed to represent the interest of women and could
not effectively articulate the consensus built on the repeal of the Hudood Ordinance by the
women’s rights activists and human rights organizations over the last twenty-seven years in the
legislature. All of them were echoing their party positions. Women legislators of the Mutahhida
Majlas-e-Amal (MMA) were in the forefront in opposition to the bill. Their counterparts
in the Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-i-Azam (PML-Q), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and
Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) also toed their party line to go along with the amendment.
Women parliamentarian who came on the reserved seats did not understand that they
were not accountable to their political parties alone but also to their constituency that was the
woman of the country. It was critically important for them to have voiced women’s interests to
justify their existence and presence in the national assembly. It is understood that as members
of political parties, the opinions of these women were subject to the discipline of their parties
and they were expected to support their party position on the issue (Bari, 2006).
5 Non-indigenous empowerment
In the post 9/11 scenario the transnational stakes in Afghanistan have resulted in strengthening
the progressive elements in Pakistan. The engenderment of Pakistan’s political system has
some links with international community stakes. Though there is evidence that a 33% quota
was planned in the National Action Plan (1996-2002) it was crystallized after 9/11. Progressive
elements imposed women’s quota without doing proper homework – educating the predominantly
conservative Pakistani society to absorb the change. Political representation has
not been granted because of socio-political imperatives and it is not effective in promoting the
cause of women. It is granted to them as a symbolic measure only. The reality is that the decision
has been taken to portray the society of Pakistan as progressive.
95% of women elected as councilors in local government lack literacy and awareness whose
main thrust to become a councilor is to get the amount allocated as monthly salary from Rs.
1000 to Rs. 5000. The general knowledge of councilors about their job is to serve the Nazim at
the district level (Jabeen: 2004).
The national elite, which comprises of the civil and military bureaucracy, rules over the political
institutions in Pakistan. More than half of the rule in Pakistan since its independence has
been managed by the military: Ayub era 1958-1969, Zia Era 1978-1988, Musharraf era 1999
till today. The decision to establish 33% quota is imposed from the elite’s in connection with
pressures from International financial Institutions, the Most Developed Countries and Multinational
Corporations of the world.
On October 18, 2007 Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan after eight years of self-imposed
exile to contest elections after a ‘deal’ with President Musharraf. President Musharraf himself
admitted in an interview that an American role cannot be denied in the initiation of dialogue
with Benazir Bhutto. Benazir Bhotto was assassinated during the election campaign on Decembr
27, 2007 by religious militants. Men will argue that she was assassinated for her politics
but the feminist perspective will necessarily see her death as a comment on the personal struggle
of women in politics and in public service. (Shehrbano: 2007)
Potential solution
Here the paper provides three-dimensional strategy for generative engenderment of the political
system of Pakistan.
1 Harness
The logic to harness women’s potential aims at seeking the truth through a method that relies
on an appreciation of the richness of human diversity and a desire for unity. Because it is based
on universal spiritual principles, it is adaptable to any culture. It is regarded that human diversity
is an asset. In decision-making, for instance, a diverse group, drawing on the wisdom,
knowledge, and experience of each person, can solve complex problems more effectively than
any single individual (BIC, 2000).
Women make decisions that are as good and as important as those made by men. In fact,
women may even make better decisions than men for the simple reason that they take more
factors into consideration in the contexts within which they make decisions (Nancy, 1992).
2 Harmonize
The second stage is to harmonize the change with the socio-political processes. Women have
to justify the social as well as new political roles vis-à-vis traditional roles. Here we need to
evaluate who is paying the cost for this change and who is benefiting. One may also feel that
women are treated as subjects of change more than as agents of change. In fact it is observed
that first they become subjects of change and then act as agents of change.
Political parties should also be amended so as to increase each party’s membership of women
to a minimum of 30% and representation in the central working committee to a minimum of
25% to ensure that women participate in the processes of decision making.
3 Homogenize
A feeling of cohesiveness should be created such that the status granted to women and reflected
back on society is not only beneficial to women but also to men. This is time to tell the nation
through media and research that women are paying more cost for their engagement in politics
in the process of national development and progress.
Conclusion
The review of trends in the field of women’s political empowerment shows a diverse progress
report from different parts of the world. There are numerous difficulties still to be resolved.
Targets set by UN for a 30% (which would eventually grow into 50%) participation has only
been achieved in few countries. Some progress has been achieved over the past few years, towards
enhancing women’s political representation, as well as in the realization that women’s
involvement in politics is an important pre-requisite for democracy. Women are still facing key
challenges.
The region of South Asia has had the largest number of female leaders but general trends do
not show similarity in political participation of women. South Asia has been slow in the political
empowerment of women.
In Pakistan, since independence, all regimes whether liberal, conservative or military have
treated women’s issues as political necessity only to project their regimes as liberal and modern
to the world. These regimes gave limited rights to women for a place in society and politics.
For instance, Ayub Khan introduced the Family Law Ordinance 1961, Zulfiqar Bhutto’s regime
fixed 10% quota for women in parliament, Benazir Bhutto’s government established Women’sStudy Centre, First Women’s Bank, and Women’s Police Station. General Pervez Musharaf’s
era allocated the 33% women seats in local government and 17% seats in parliament. None of
these regimes responded positively or responsibly to women’s issues. Women’s questions have
been used to strengthen their own political agenda and to secure political points.
Men support the case of women only when they think that the interests of men would be
served profoundly. Many women elected in parliament belong to politicians who have been
already in power in Pakistan previously. This trend may manipulate the process of change in
the interest of power regimes. The inaugural status of this quota may provide a base for future
strengthening of women’s status in Pakistan but we need to go from gender sensitivity to encompass
the dimensions of collective gender rights. Changes are o be brought from within if
they are to be sustained.
Women lack interest in politics because politics is projected as a ‘negative’ field. Women
do not have participation in formal political processes. Men consider themselves ‘traditional
custodians’ of political heritage and do not welcome women’s participation in important political
decisions. The immediate problems that women face include lack of political skill, financial
resources and the dubbing of politics as an all male arena. The ideal of increasing the level of
women’s representation and participation in decision-making bodies requires well-developed
strategies. It also seeks quality in women’s representation, opportunities for women in formal
education and training and scholarship grants to equip women to effectively participate in political
activities.
One of the most important signs of the modernization of society is connected to the role of
women in society. We cannot imagine a modern society without considering the status of women;
we cannot imagine such a society if women do not enjoy their social, political, cultural
and economic rights and if women have not achieved full dignity and social status. In relative
terms, the status of women has improved in contemporary Pakistani society with the passage
of time, but the ideal of women’s empowerment is still a distant dream.

SOURCE:/www.wsanz.org.nz

Women in Parliament in Pakistan: Problems and Potential Solutions

Abstract
Since the inception of parliamentary form of government, women’s political participation and representation in
decision-making institutions has remained minimal irrespective of the fact that women constitute more than half
of the world population today. With the passage of time there is an increased awareness that emergence of a gender-
balanced society for addressing issues of status of women can only be realized by encouraging enhanced participation
of women in decision and policy making institutions in general and politics and legislature in particular.
In different regions of the world there are considerable variations in the political participation of women. This paper,
with a focus on South Asia, analyzes the factors, which have contributed to the increasing number of women
in legislatures in different regions of the world, and presents the case of Pakistan. The focus of this research is
on the role of Pakistani women in the political arena. Throughout the history of Pakistan, the 2002 and present
parliament has shown the maximum representation of women. The study observes how this numerical strength
in parliament has contributed to the empowerment of Pakistani women and whether women are the ‘subjects of
change’ or the ‘agents of change’ and if these changes are brought about by women themselves or being launched
by some exogenous factors?
Introduction
Women face obstacles to their political participation all over the world. Socio-economic factors
as well as existing structures are considered as barriers to their advancement. In 2008, the
rate of female representation stood at 17.7% globally. This minimal representation shows that
women have to cover a long distance for the ideal parity in politics. There is need of full and
equal participation of women in policy making in order to promote gender fair government.
Efforts are being made to increase women’s participation through legislative measures like
gender quotas which are being implemented at a remarkable rate all over the world.
Gender quotas are increasingly viewed as an important policy measure for boosting women’s
access to decision-making bodies. The basic purpose of a quota system is to recruit women
into a political position in order to limit their isolation in politics. Quotas are applied as temporary
measures until the barriers for women’s political participation are removed. Many developing
countries have legislated quotas at the national or sub-national level to ensure gender
fair government while in many developed countries, political parties have voluntarily adopted
some form of quotas. At the same time quotas raise serious question about the contribution of
quotas to the political empowerment of women as quotas themselves do not remove all the barriers.
It seems important that quotas rest on grass root mobilization of women and the active
participation of women’s organization.
In Pakistan, women’s quotas have enlarged the component of women’s status in post 9/11
political developments. This change is visible as the political power has passed from fathers
to daughters instead of sons only. The significance of this study stems from the fact that women’s
political presence is influenced by domestic vis-à-vis global trends. The political uplift
of women lacks an economic base and seems non-indigenous. Women are tolerated as long
as they do not challenge their male colleagues- so while they are in parliament, they have little
power to achieve change. This research intends to highlight that the engenderment of the political system of Pakistan lacks a socio-political base, and therefore need to be indigenously
developed. The numerical strength of women in legislation is not an indicator of quality but
their impact and effectiveness makes a difference.
The status of women in Pakistan is heterogeneous owing to uneven socioeconomic development
in the rural and urban region. Generally, women’s situation vis-à-vis men is of systematic
subordination. Men and women’s activities are divided into outside and inside home. Therefore,
women’s mobility is restricted and controlled. Men are given better education to compete
for resources outside the home. This situation has led to dependency of women and becomes
the basis for male power in social, economic and political spheres.
Women do not have a role in the formulation of economic and social policies. Their exclusion
from decision-making bodies does not provide them any opportunity to raise their concern
or to promote their participation in politics. Governance systems in Pakistan are male dominated.
It is imperative for women to claim their share of power to make decisions for political
empowerment.
The constitution of Pakistan places no restrictions on women’s participation in politics; nevertheless
their presence in the political parties as well as in the political structure at the local,
provincial and national level remains insignificant due to cultural and structural barriers. The
General elections of 2002 saw an unprecedented increase in the number of reserved seats for
women in the parliament of Pakistan. This paper will analyze the political participation of
women in parliament and whether numerical strength has contributed to women’s empowerment.
It will cover the issues of women’s participation and major concerns associated with
the representation of women in legislature. There is a need to assess the impact of increased
representation of women in the parliament and evaluate the female legislature’s performance to
derive lessons for the future.
Women in parliament
Ever since the days of Plato and Aristotle, women’s role in society and their nature have been
objects of speculation within philosophical, religious and political thought. The household,
both in Athenian society and in the western agricultural society, was the economic nucleus of
the communal structure and therefore the status of women had a given place in discussions
about the nature of society. A woman was defined principally in relation to the family and she
was seen as innately inferior to man. According to Aristotle, “With regard to the differences
between the sexes, man is by nature superior and leading, woman inferior and led” (Jonasdottir,
1998).
With the growth of modern society and industrialization the family and the relationships
between men and women were relegated to the private sphere and politics was defined with
regard to the new, public sphere (Jonasdottir, 1998). With the passage of time women’s suffrage
started. The term women’s suffrage is a social, economic and political reform movement
aimed at extending suffrage - the right to vote - to women. New Zealand was the first to give
women the right to vote. However when this happened in 1893 it was not a “country”, in the
sense of being an independent nation state, but a mostly self-governing colony. The first women’s
suffrage was granted in New Jersey by the state constitution of 1776. Finland was the first
European country to introduce women’s suffrage in 1906, Norway in 1913, Canada in 1917,
German and Poland in 1918, America in 1920 and Turkey in 1926.
As modern ideas of women’s liberation are being articulated ever more clearly, there is a
strong realization that since women constitute slightly more than half of the world population,
and their contribution to the societal and economic development of societies is also more than half as compared to that of men by virtue of their dual roles in the productive and reproductive
spheres. Yet their participation in formal political structures and processes, where decisions
regarding the use of societal resources generated by both men and women are made, remains
insignificant (Bari, 2005). With increasing recognition among the international community of
women’s historic exclusion from structures of power, a global commitment has been made to
redress gender imbalance in politics. Women’s enhanced participation in governance structures
is viewed as the key to redress gender inequalities in societies (Bari, 2005).
At the global level, the average percentage of women stands at 18.4%.
Representation of women in parliaments - World average
House or chamber Average percentage of women
Lower house 18.5%
Upper house 17.6%
Both houses combined 18.4%
Source www.ipu.org/wmn-e/world.sep2008.htm (accessed on 20th Dec 2008).
Significant differences exist between regions regarding women’s representation. The Nordic
countries have the highest number of women parliamentarians while the Arab states have
the lowest and within regions this representation varies among nations.
Regional average Lower house Upper house Both houses
combined
Nordic Countries 41.4% - 41.4%
Americas 21.7% 20.1% 21.4%
Europe (Excluding
Nordic Countries)
21.1% 19.9% 20.9%
Sub-Saharan Africa1∗ 17.9% 20.6% 18.2%
Asia 18.3% 16.5% 18.1%
Pacific 12.9% 13.8% 14.9%
Arab States 9.7% 7.0% 9.1%
Source http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/world.sep2008.htm. (Accessed on 20th Dec 2008)
Feminist organizations throughout the world view the Scandinavian countries, Denmark,
Finland, Norway and Sweden, as a model for women’s equality. One key factor has been the
very high representation that women have enjoyed in parliaments and local councils in these
countries especially since the 1970’s (Dahlerup, 2006).

The extraordinary high representation of women, as demonstrated in the above table, seen
in a global perspective has led to the question: How did you come that far? What can we learn
from the Scandinavian experience? As Nordic researchers have tried to answer these questions
by pointing to structural changes in these countries such as secularization, the strength of social-
democratic parties and the development of an extended welfare state, women’s entrance
into the labor market in large numbers in the 1960’s, the educational boom in the 1960’s, the
electoral system and several other factors are also seen as important, especially the various
strategies used by women’s organizations in the Nordic countries in order to raise women’s
political representation (Dahlerup, 2006).
Women in the Nordic region had to fight for their rights and for their place not only in parliament
but within political parties as well. For a long time women’s relative absence from
party politics was explained, both within research and among politicians, with reference to
a shortage of suitable women. While feminist research has questioned that perspective and
stressed the problem lies with the political system not with the women (Jonasdottir, 1998).
In analyzing how the increase in women’s representation came about and the reasons for the
adaptation of quotas it is clear that an egalitarian culture played a very important role. An important
part of the explanation for the relative success of women in the political sphere is connected
to existing political institutions. Women, by and large, made an explicit decision to stay
and work within existing political parties. They did not leave and establish separate political
organizations. The candidate selection procedure placed an emphasis on group representation
as women make 50 percent as a group. In short, the institutional arrangements played a crucial
role in assisting women in their fight for greater representation. Greater women’s political participation
in this region is an inspiration to many women around the world who are fighting for
greater access to political power (Matland, 2004).
In Europe representation of women in legislation is 19.3%. If we look at Europe, quotas
are rather unpopular, except in the Balkans. In Western Europe, quotas mainly take the form
of voluntary party quotas, Belgium and France being the exceptions. In Central and Eastern
Europe very few political parties have approved quota regulations and no legal gender quota
regulations for parliament are in place. Analysis of quota reveals that resistance to quotas in
Western Europe is connected primarily to the belief that quotas are in conflict with the concept
of liberal democracy and the principle of merit (Dahlerup, 2006).
In Sub-Saharan Africa, the increase in women’s participation in the past few years has been
greater than ever in the past four decades showing ten-fold to over 14 percent in 2003. Gender
quotas are now increasingly viewed as an important policy measure for boosting women’s
access to decision-making bodies throughout the world. The experience from Africa is very
encouraging. Over 20 countries on the continent have either legislated quotas or political parties
have adopted them voluntarily. These measures have contributed directly to the increase in the number of women who have access to the legislature: the average representation of women
in Sub-Saharan Africa in 1995 was 9.8% (Ballington, 2004), which has increased to 18.2% in
2008.
Asia, with 18.3 percent representation of women in legislatures, is nearly equal to the world
average. Asia is an interesting region in terms its experimentation with quotas, providing some
of the earliest examples in the world. Pakistan implemented ‘reservations’ as far back as 1956,
and Bangladesh implemented reserved seats for women in the 1970’s. Today, constitutional
quotas exist in India and previously in Bangladesh, and legislated quotas are implemented in
Pakistan, Indonesia and China. This region has shown a tendency for legislated quota provisions
rather than leaving it for political parties to implement their own informal party quotas,
as is common in Western Europe and parts of Africa. There is also a tendency for quotas to take
the form of reserved seats, a popular method of quota implementation in first-part-the-post systems,
which tend to predominate in the region (IDEA, 2004).
In South Asia, the maximum number of female leaders has emerged. Benazir Bhutto of
Pakistan, Indira Gandhi of India, Khalida Zia and Hasina Wajid of Bangladesh and Sirivamo
Bandranaika and Chandrika Kumaratunga of Sri Lanka are some of the more prominent among
them. The general level of political participation among South Asian women does not reflect
a similar trend. Political participation is often limited by constraints laid on their mobility and
roles based on the socio-cultural perceptions. South Asia has been slow in political empowerment
and representation of its women (Rustagi, 2004).
In India, there is a continued dominance of the upper class in education, administration and
structures of government. The eighty-fourth constitution Amendment Bill meant to provide
one-third reservation of seats to women in states and central legislative bodies and the controversies
around it mirror the contradictions of Indian society (Raman, 2002).
The protagonists of the Bill highlight the traditionally sanctioned exclusion of women from
the public sphere as crucial. Undoubtedly, women’s suppression, in history, has been very important
in maintaining upper-class exclusivity and hegemony. Affirmative action for women
would certainly play a role in undermining male and upper-caste dominance. There is also a
strong resistance on the part of a considerable number of political leaders to ‘encroachments’into what has been a traditionally male preserve. The media has characterized the debate as a
battle between ‘feminists’ and ‘casteists’ (Raman, 2002).
In India, the 73rd and 74th amendments passed in 1992 have been instrumental in ensuring
a strong representation of women in local government institutions for women in local government
and the provision for one third chair persons to be from among the women but there is
no reservation of seats for women either in the State Legislative Assembly nor in parliament at
the national level. The demand for reservation in the parliament by women’s groups has raised
many eyebrows and severe criticism. Many times the bill was taken in parliament but failed.
Women activists wanted to get this bill passed before the elections to the state assemblies
and parliament to be held by the end of 2008. At least once a year a few members of parliament
debate the need to reserve 33 percent of seats for women. The bill comes up when the parliament
convenes but soon gets shelved with all the ensuing acrimony (Times of India: 2008).
In the case of Sri Lanka, women who have a presence in parliament are there by virtue of
a kinship tie to a father, brother, or husband, who, in most cases was assassinated. One of the
most critical barriers for Sri Lankan women is the fear of violence that has become associated
with the political process. Another problem that is directly related to roles and a division of labor
based on gender is the shortage of time women face when they shoulder responsibility for
maintaining a household and generating income. Another is a shortage of resources. They do
not have access to property or to other income resources. They often lack mobility, and there is
frequently a problem with social acceptance. It is a bit ironic that men say politics is inappropriate
for women because it is often violent, thus providing justification for excluding women
(Mckenna, 1999).
In the October 2000 election, there were 22 political parties and 91 independent groups,
which were able to field only 117 women in a total of 5,048 candidates. In the recently dissolved
parliament of 2001, at the National level (2000) there were only 9 women in the parliament
of 225 members (4%). In Sri Lanka reserved seats have never been accepted (Ghimir,
2006).
At the same time, women who entered the arena of politics remained divided according to
their political loyalties, and they did not unite as one voice when concerns regarding women
became a matter of importance. Women politicians at almost every level supported their political
affiliations rather than planning and working for the common good of women (Abhayaratna:
2008).
In 1990 when Nepal restored parliamentary democracy, a constitutional mandate was passed
to ensure the participation of women in the national election. As a result, 5 percent of all candidates
who seek seats in the House of Representatives are reserved for women. Then, prior to
local elections in 1997, the government passed an act that required 20 percent of the elected
seats in the Village Development Committees (VCD) to be set aside for women elected to each
of the nine wards that comprised a VCD. Partly as a result of this ruling, 35,000 women have
won seats at the ward level. A number of women also have been assigned sets in an effort to
further their political participation (Andrews, 1999).
However, women political leaders have resented the failure of the political parties to accord
the mandated number of seats for women in contesting the constituent Assembly polls in 2008
according to the Law of the Land. Though the political parties have rightfully allocated 50 %
of the seats for women according to the proportional mode of elections, they have failed to
fulfill the requirement while fielding candidates for the first-past-the-post system that gives an
opportunity for the electorate to vote for the candidates in direct term. The interim constitution
of Nepal has already guaranteed 33% reservation to women in the national parliament (The
Rising Nepal: 2008).
In the case of Bangladesh, the constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh provides
for a 300-member parliament (Jatiyo Sangsad). Earlier, the parliament comprised a total of 315
seats out of which 15 were reserved for women for a period of 10 years. Members elected to
parliament from the 300 ‘general’ seats represent single-member territorial constituencies that
both men and women are eligible to contest. The 15 reserved seats for women were indirectly
elected. Members elected to general seats constituted the college for reserved seats (Chowdhury,
2002).
In 1978 a presidential proclamation increased the number of reserved seats to 30 (increasing
women’s minimum guaranteed representation in legislature from 4.7% to 9.9%) and extended
the period of reservation to 15 years from the date of promulgation of the constitution of the
Republic in December 1972. This constitutional provision lapsed in December 1987 and was
reincorporated in the constitution by an amendment in 1990 to be effective for another 10
years. Since this provision lapsed in 2001, the present parliament does not have seats reserved
for women, as was the case with the House elected in 1988 (Chowdhury, 2002).
Since no measures have been taken to encourage the role of women in political parties,
this approach to reserved seats has left the entire electoral field open to male domination and
control. Bangladesh’s experiences with quotas for women in the parliament have been largely
negative. Instead of contributing to women’s political agency and autonomy, it accentuated
their dependence in politics and reinforced their marginality (Chowdhury, 2002).
After the declaration of emergency on January 17, 2007, the emerging dialogue between the
Election Commission and the major political parties has encouraged the shift in the focus of
the military-driven interim government towards holding the general elections as expeditiously
as possible. The Election commission has proposed to include at least 33 percent of women
in all committees of the political parties which seems to be unacceptable for political parties
(New Age: 2007).
Bhutan is one of the few countries where there are no political parties. However, at the
district and village levels there are established mechanisms that foster people’s active participation
in the policy making process. Women in Bhutan enjoy economic and political equality
with the men. Bhutanese women are free to participate in the formulation and implementation
of policies and programs. At the national level, 14 out of the 150 National Assembly members
are women (Ghimir, 2006).
Women are noticeable by their absence in the higher levels of the decision-making system,
with just 3% representation in the recently dissolved National Assembly and 1% among the
rural leadership. Women who are attending political meetings these days are mostly pledging
their loyalties to the parties and not based on woman’s issues. They have a strong say in all
decisions concerning the family and the community but have not emerged as visible public
figures (Kuensel: 2007).
The political system of Maldives is quite different to that of the rest of the South Asian
countries. There is no special quota system in the parliament. In the absence of constitutional
barriers to women’s participation in top management, the main constraint to women’s access
to this position is the attitude of women themselves. The culture of female subordination has
been so deeply rooted that women generally believe that they are less capable than their male
counterparts. At present women’s participation at the parliament is 6.3% (Ghimir, 2006).
The Pakistan Experience
Women undoubtedly played a significant role in the creation of Pakistan. The founder of the
country, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, was responsible for bringing Muslim women out of their homes to participate in the movement for Pakistan. He is on record for saying that
the emancipation of Muslim men is not possible unless Muslim women are involved in this
struggle as equal partners. When the movement for creation of Pakistan gathered momentum,
Muslim women came out on the streets and were active in the demonstrations and agitations
that took place for independence (Saiyid, 2001). Quaid-i-Azam appointed a Central Women’s
Committee with Fatima Jinnah as president with instructions to allocate women’s quota in the
Muslim League. The Quaid-i-Azam stated on 18th April 1946, at the Muslim Convention in
Delhi: “It is a matter of great happiness that Muslim women are also undergoing a revolutionary
change. This change is of great importance. No nation in the world can progress until its
women walk side by side with the men”.
What the Quaid had achieved was unprecedented, and amounted to a social revolution. The
cultural norms of the Muslims of the Indian sub-continent discouraged women from going out
of their homes, and at the time it was unthinkable for women to venture out of their homes for
political purposes. The constant presence of Fatima Jinnah, the Quaid’s sister, was not accidental,
but a message by this visionary leader, that women should be equal partners in politics, and
that they should not be confined to the traditional home-bound role of a wife and a mother. It is
not surprising then that he was constantly under attack by the orthodox religious parties. Once,
so the story goes, he was about to address a mammoth public meeting, and was requested not
to have Fatima Jinnah sitting on the dais by his side. He refused (Saiyid, 2001).
Despite the vision of the father of the nation, the representation of women in the National
Assembly of Pakistan has been varying since 1947. The constitution of 1956 and 1962 provided
for 6 reserved seats for women in the National Assembly, while the 1973 constitution
reserved 10 seats for women. Later these seats were increased to 20 in 1985(ADB, 1999). In
2002 these seats have been revived and increased to sixty by the government of General Pervez
Musharaf (PILDAT, 2004).
1 Constitutional Quota (1947-2008)
In view of women’s invisibility in national politics, the provision of women’s reserved seats in
parliament existed throughout the constitutional history of Pakistan from 1956 to 1973. In the
1956 constitution, 3 percent quota for women was approved. The 1956 constitution under Article
44(2) (1) provided for reservation of 10 seats for women for a period of 10 years, equally
divided between East and West Pakistan (PILDAT, 2004). The first election under the 1973
constitution was held in 1977 but assemblies were dissolved within months of the election
with the imposition of Martial Law in July 1977. In 1981, General Zia ul Haq nominated the
Majlis-e-Shoora (Federal Advisory Council) and inducted 20 women as members. The Majlise-
Shoora was a step towards Zia’s idea of Islamic democracy: however, it had no power over
the executive branch. A military head whose function seemed to keep out all empowermentseeking
women effectively contained the Women Ministry (Sedeque, 2005).
In 1985, the National Assembly elections, through nonparty elections, doubled women’s
reserved quota to (20%). The 1988 elections were held with provisions for women’s seats remaining
the same as in 1985. This provision expired before the 1990 elections and has not
been revived since then, despite commitments by both major political parties in their election
manifestos that they would do so (Zia, 1999). Currently 60 seats are reserved for women in the
Pakistan National Assembly. Presently a total of 71 women have obtained representation at the
national level, 60 on reserved seats and 11 on general seats. Women occupy a total of 128 seats
in provincial Assemblies. In local government presently 33% seats are reserved for women.

Political Empowerment of Women in Pakistan

“No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side with you; we are victims of evil customs. It is crime against humanity that our women are shut up within the four walls of the houses as prisoners. There is no sanction anywhere for the deplorable condition in which our women have to live. You should take your women along with you as comrades in every sphere of life.”
(Muhammad Ali Jinnah, 1944)
With the advent of the Pakistan Movement, women’s participation in the freedom struggle became a dire necessity, both for increasing the Muslim vote bank and for displaying numerical strength at the Muslim League’s political rallies. In 1940 Mr. Jinnah announced, “Women are supposed to create a sense of general political consciousness. They should stand shoulder to shoulder with men in practical politics.”1 This saw the removal of cultural and social restrictions on their traveling for purposes of attending political gatherings. Unfortunately, in spite of the Quaid’s personal views, 1948 saw an abrupt end to this temporary political freedom. However, a few determined women continued to play very important roles in the political empowerment of the women of Pakistan. This article seeks to record and eulogise their successes, while simultaneously analyzing the effects of their failures on the body politic of Pakistan.
The first such lady was Miss Fatima Jinnah who was an inspiration to the women of Pakistan and continues to be held in high esteem even today. She formed the Women’s Relief Committee, which played a vital role in the settlement of refugees in the new state of Pakistan.2 After the Quaid’s death,she assumed the mantle of the Protector of Public Interest. She fearlessly pointed out the lapses of the rulers on a regular basis, and continuously beckoned the Nation back to the Quaid’s cherished principles. In 1964, after Khawaja Nazimuddin died, the Combined Opposition Parties (COP) nominated Miss Jinnah as their presidential candidate.3 By agreeing to challenge Field Marshal Ayub Khan at the height of his dictatorial power, she not only electrified the Nation, but also took a massive step towards the political empowerment of women. This, one courageous decision, raised the threshold of political ambitions amongst the female politicians of the Subcontinent to the very highest levels. It may well be worth researching what role her decision may have had on motivating Mrs. Indira Gandhi to become Prime Minister of India a few years later. Her candidature also put an end to the knotty question of a woman’s right to become the head of a Muslim State, as even the Jamat-i-Islami gave her its grudging support, albeit under the concept of it being “the need of the hour.”4 Surprisingly, the APWA and its leaders, including Begum Raana Liaquat Ali Khan and Begum Fida Hussain, opposed Miss Jinnah and actively campaigned for President Ayub Khan.5 This was all the more unfortunate as Begum Raana Liaquat Ali Khan had been taking a leading role in women’s movement ever since the creation of Pakistan.
In 1948, in the immediate aftermath of Independence, two very determined lady members of Pakistan’s Constituent Assembly, Begum Shaista Ikram Ullah and Begum Jahan Ara Shahnawaz, managed to achieve a phenomenal level of political success for the women of Pakitan.6 Through dedicated and focused hard work, they succeeded in getting the Muslim Personal Law of Shariah passed under which women were granted the right to inherit property, including agricultural land.7 The irony is that, even after this law became fully effective in 1951, it was seldom practiced, as it could not change the deep-rooted male custom of denying this right to their women, especially in the interior of the country. Although, in an even greater irony, Islam had granted women the right to inherit property fifteen hundred years earlier. Muslim men in the subcontinent have continued to negate this as they feel they must protect their property from falling under the control of the men of another family into which their sisters and daughters were to be married. Therefore, the achievement of these two ladies was truly phenomenal as they had debated and ensured the passage of this law in an Assembly largely populated by the landed gentry, in a country dominated by male chauvinism.
In 1955 Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Bogra took a second wife,8 which instigated women organizations to launch a campaign against his second marriage.9 The United Front for Women’s Rights (UFWR) was formed under the leadership of Begum Jahan Ara Shahnawaz. Under pressure from UFWR and APWA, the Government formed a commission headed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Mr. Justice Rashid, to study the existing laws of marriage, divorce, maintenance and custody of children and recommended modifications to bring them into conformity with the dictates of Islam.10 The Rashid Commission finalized its report in 1956, which included a detailed dissenting note by its religious member Maulana Ehtesham ul Haq Thanvi.11 As a result of sustained pressure and dissent from the orthodox religious elements, the report was unfortunately shelved.12 However, five years later it was to form the basis for the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961.13
“Equality of status, equality of opportunity, equal pay for equal work and guarantee of rights for Muslim women under the Muslim Personal Law of Shariah” were apart of the Charter of Women’s Rights, prepared by Begum Jahan Ara Shahnawaz.14 The Charter was passed by the Constituent Assembly with an overwhelming majority, in spite of the fact that Mr. Zafarullah, who was chairing the meeting, opposed the bill. It was his contention that a newborn state could not afford this “luxury”, especially as British Prime Minister even Mr. Churchill had refused to agree to equal pay for equal work for women in Britain.15 Therefore, the adoption of this charter was certainly a great victory for both the lady parliamentarians in particular, and the women of Pakistan in general.
However, the landmark legislation of that era was the acceptance in the 1956 Constitution, of the principle of female suffrage for the seats reserved for women, allocated on the basis of special territorial constituencies. This, in effect granted women dual voting rights – one for general seats and the other for the reserved women’s seats.16 The importance and potential of this right towards the political empowerment of women was apparently not fully grasped by the framers of our subsequent constitutions. Hence it was abolished in the 1962 Constitution, which replaced it with a system of indirect elections.17 This stipulated that henceforth the elected members of the Assemblies would elect women members for the reserved women seats. As voting would obviously be on party lines, women candidates would therefore be selected by their party bosses rather than elected by their real constituents i.e. the women of Pakistan. This in fact turned women members into “token representatives”.18 Unfortunately, this concept of indirect elections was retained in the 1973 Constitution.19
During the 1970 Election campaign, Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto emerged as the clear front runner in the Punjab and Sind, particularly among the poorer segment of civil society. His message had a special fascination for women who were encouraged to believe that, in a PPP regime that would provide “Roti, Kapra aur Makaan,” they too could develop as dignified human beings in their own right.20 Thus, for the first time, women voted for the candidates of their own choice, irrespective of their husband’s desires. This was a big step in the political empowerment of women at the grass roots level.21
On assuming power in December 1970, Mr. Bhutto gave top priority to drafting a new constitution. Begum Nasim Jahan and Begum Ashraf Abbasi were the two lady members of the Constitution Committee who played the same role that Begum Jahan Ara Shahnawaz and Begum Shaista Ikram Ullah had played in 1956.22 It was largely due to their efforts that the 1973 Constitution brought about greater gender equality, declaring all citizens to be equal before the law and stipulating that there would be no discrimination on the basis of race, religion, caste or sex for appointment in the service of Pakistan. It also guaranteed reserved seats for women in Local Bodies and mandated that steps be taken to ensure the participation of women in all spheres of national life. As a result, women now entered those superior services from which they had hitherto been barred such as the CSP and the Foreign Service.23
However, as mentioned earlier, in spite of forceful demands put forward by APWA and other women organizations, and a determined effort made by Begum Nasim Jahan in the National Assembly, the principle of female suffrage for the reserved women’s seats, was not revived in the 1973 Constitution. Bhutto’s Law Minister, Mr. Abdul Hafeez Peerzada, felt that as in the past the political parties had been unable to find suitable female candidates beyond the big cities, an election based on female suffrage would produce unhealthy results. He was also influenced by the fact that, although women had played a remarkable role in the 1970 Election Campaign, none of them was able to get elected. In his view this proved that the better category of women politicians were adverse to fighting a direct election. He therefore thought that the interests of women would be best served by a system of indirect elections, which would attract a better breed of women politicians.24 However, Begum Nasim Jahan was of the view that as the electorate for this indirect form of elections (or more appropriately the nominating authority) would comprise entirely of males, the women parliamentarians would be reduced to being mere token representatives.25
The period of Gen Zia’s Martial Law, which followed after the overthrow of Mr. Bhutto, was a rather lean period for women politicians. In fact, after the Bhutto ladies had been forced to leave the Country, women politicians seemed to have virtually disappeared from the landscape. However, in the wake of the promulgation of the Hadood Ordinances, this vacuum was filled by a class of educated women activists who had emerged to form pressure groups committed to protecting women’s rights. These laws, wittingly or unwittingly, reduced the legal status of women through the Qanoon-e-Shahadat on the one hand, and virtually tyrannized them by the faulty interpretation of the Zina Ordinance on the other hand.26 Whereas the first barred them from giving evidence in cases of rape, qazf, bodily harm or property, the second resulted in a rape victim being jailed for Zina unless she could produce four Muslim male witnesses to prove that she had been raped.27 Thus was born the Women’s Action Forum (WAF), which continues to be active even today in its struggle for ensuring basic rights for women.28
Although, relatively speaking, the Musharraf era proved to be a political boom for the women of Pakistan, unfortunately it also did not restore the principle of female suffrage for women’s reserved seats on the basis of special territorial constituencies as envisaged in the 1956 Constitution. The effects of this lapse can best be judged by an analysis of the elections held in 2002. Although Gen. Musharraf very boldly increased the number of reserved women’s seats to an unprecedented 20% in the Assemblies29 and 33% in the Local Bodies, reportedly as many as 31% of the women in NWFP, Baluchistan and Southern Punjab were not allowed by their men to vote.30 If the principle of women voting for the reserved women’s seats had been included in the LFO, even MMA Party leaders would have been “encouraged” to ensure that their womenfolk went out and voted for MMA women candidates. The alternative would have been to surrender the 20% reserved women seats to their rival parties. This would also have had the advantage of making candidates for the reserved women’s seats accountable to their women voters, thus forcing the candidates to devise political agendas conductive to resolving women’s problems and helping them to achieve their due rights.31 In other words, women’s demands would have been presented and fought for in the assemblies by women parliamentarians, who would have had to demonstrate their dedication and record on women issues as an essential requirement for seeking re-election.32 This would have been in stark contrast to the position that has persisted ever since the abrogation of the 1956 Constitution, whereby women parliamentarians have been beholden to their party leaders, who have virtually “nominated” them for occupying the reserved women seats.33 Thus, even today, their political subjugation has not been fully eliminated. It is worth pondering whether women parliamentarians would have allowed themselves to be manipulated into behaving with such lack of decorum, as was witnessed during May 2003 in the Punjab Assembly, if they had been directly elected and did not have to do their master’s bidding.34
However, all said and done, women owe a lot to Gen Musharraf. Besides the increase in reserved women seats in the Assemblies from 2 to 20% women now also constitute 33% of the Union, Tehsil and District Councils.35 In addition, many women have been sent as ambassadors to various countries. These are very bold and positive steps that herald the beginning of a whole new chapter in the political participation of women in Pakistan. It is now incumbent upon the women parliamentarians to take meaningful steps for gaining a deeper understanding of women’s issues and problems. As this knowledge and awareness increases, it is hoped that women parliamentarians will rise above party affiliations and gravitate towards forming an “intra party bond” for jointly devising appropriate measures in support of women’s rights. This would be the most effective way of enhancing the political empowerment of women, as envisaged by President Musharraf in his inaugural address to the National Conference on Women’s Political Participation in January 2003,36 where he had stated that, “The women members of the Assemblies must rise beyond party affiliations… influence decision-making… (and) become effective in legislation to ensure that no law detrimental to their rights and interests is passed.” It is heartening to note that subsequent development in the Punjab Assembly, where women members of the Opposition broke ranks with their male colleagues and joined their female counterparts from the Treasury Benches in supporting the provisions of the Punjab Prevention of Domestic Violence Bill, 2003.37 Similarly, the subsequent passage of the Honour Killing Act and Women Protection Act (that has considerably reduced the anti women bias of the Hadood Ordinances) have helped bring to surface a new breed of women politicians such as Sherry Rehman PPP, Nilofar Bakhtiar PML(Q), Kashmala Tariq PML(Q) and Fauzia Wahab PPP. Their roles in the passage of these Acts have definitely proved that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

SOURCE:www.pu.edu.pk

Role of Women Parliamentarians in Social and Political Change

The role of women parliamentarians in the previous as well as in the present parliament was impressive. However, women parliamentarians still face multiple challenges: social, cultural, structural and political, which need to be overcome through strategic essentialism, electoral as well as political reforms with the help of social and political movements. This was stated by the panelists speaking at the panel on Role of Women Parliamentarians in Social and Political Change.

The panel was addressed by Dr. Farzana Bari and Mr. Naeem Mirza while Ms Marvi Mamon was the discussant and Ms Nafisa Shah chaired the session.

Dr. Farzana Bari was of the opinion that gender deficit in politics is a global issue and its roots may be traced in the work of historical political thinkers. Women’s participation in politics has historically been considered irrational and patriarchal indoctrination has been furthered by the social, cultural and political environment.

Dr. Bari, while sharing the finding of her study, observed that this public-private division had been challenged by women’s rights moments throughout the history and succeeded in achieving their right to vote and representation. Today women have the right to vote globally except in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

However, she observed that global debate is still going on regarding women’s participation in politics and primarily two types of arguments have come to the fore: first that the population of women is 50% and they do participate in the generation of resources and production and therefore should also participate in policy formulation and decision-making process. Second, women are essentially different from men and so are their problems, which need specific attention.

Dr. Bari further said that women have distinct interests, political perspectives and legislative behavior but the question is still there: how far have they succeeded in making women’s concerns part of the legislation process? The answer lies in gender analysis of parliamentary proceedings. While sharing her analysis, she said that 220 bills had been tabled in the previous parliament and only two were bills specific to women pushed by the women parliamentarians, which they got through. Moreover, 60% of interventions on women specific issues by the women parliamentarians had been reported. One-hundred-and-one private bills had been moved by women parliamentarians, 40% were women-specific bills.

Dr. Bari was of the opinion that these evidences dismiss the assumption that women do not take interest in hard-core political and constitutional issues.

Dr. Bari went on to explain that the post-modernist intersectional approach destabilizes unity among women and divides them on the basis of social and political classes, which affects their performance. Under the concept of strategic essentialism, women may formulate at least temporary consensus, particularly on women’s issues, beyond party and intersectional lines. However, the analysis of previous parliament proceedings is negative in this regard, whereby women failed to build consensus on even a minimum agenda, stressed Dr. Bari

Notwithstanding that women parliamentarians do have an impact on the legislative process, particularly on women-related legislation, a dependency remains on a multiplicity of factors including the level of citizenship, democracy and democratization of society, governance structures, institutional roles and procedures, formative action and justice distribution, particularly resource distribution, as well as other structural and functional factors such as the role of media and gender role ideology, all of which come together to determine the performance of women parliamentarians.

Dr. Bari recommended instituting a quota for social classes, direct election on reserved seats, capacity building and networking of women parliamentarians with other civil society and rights organization and structural changes in political parties by creating gender quotas in their working committees and awarding tickets to women workers. She also suggested replacing the majoritarian system with a proportionate representation system.

Mr. Naeem Mirza of Aurat Foundation agreed with Dr. Bari and further elaborated the issue of the role of women parliamentarians. He was of the opinion that a 33% quota for women in the national parliament was a considerable leap in parliamentary history. While analyzing the performance of women parliamentarians in the previous parliament from 2002 to 2007, he explained that 42% of all private bills, 24% of all resolutions, and 30% of call attentions were moved, as well as 27% of questions were asked by women in the five year term. Mr. Mirza was optimistic about the performance of women parliamentarians in the current parliament by forming caucuses by women parliamentarians in the National as well as Provincial assemblies.

Mr. Mirza further said that women parliamentarians lack a power base in the absence of their constituencies and on reserved seats, which renders them unable to form their own power base, making their representation and political participation vulnerable and fragile. He pointed out that VIP culture and favoritism and nepotism further create constrains on women’s participation.

He opined that direct election on reserved seats and proportionate representation with a rotational system of allotting constituencies will consolidate women’s representation and mainstreaming in politics. Mr. Mirza was of the opinion that reserved seats alone may ensure women’s representation in the parliament but cannot mainstream women in politics, therefore the political parties should create a 15% inter party quota for women for political mainstreaming.

Ms Marvi Memon, Member National Assembly, as discussant on the panel observed, though globally we are fortunate enough having 33% representation on reserved seats, which solved the issue of representation at least numerically, lack of power base in the form constituencies still remains a constrain in the mainstreaming of women in politics. She affirmed that women parliamentarians have formed rotational groups and caucuses that work on an issue-to-issue basis across party lines, turf issues, egoism and personal likes and dislikes, adding that political and ideological orientation certainly comes into play in affecting the performance of women parliamentarians. However, this may be overcome through strategic essentialism, which she called a great concept. Although the primary responsibility of parliamentarians is legislation, in the present political structure many things like thana kaichari (police station/courts) and patronage in the form of development is expected from parliamentarians, she said. Equity in resource distribution as well as development funds is therefore essential for constituencies building. Ms Memon was of the opinion that being public figures, women parliamentarians should also be accountable for their time and should be accessible.

Ms Nafisa Shah while concluding the session said that the women parliamentarians should deliver something to the people, which was not possible in the traditional divisive system in the face of numerous challenges. She further elaborated that women’s participation in politics is not a new phenomenon in Pakistan as we have role models of great women politicians.

SOURCE:www.sdpi.org

Women as Political Actors in Pakistan

After listening to the podcasts of Masuma Hasan and Fattima Bhutto, consider their positions on Benazir Bhutto’s influence in Pakistan: do you think that she helped the women of Pakistan? If so, how? If not, why not?

Is Pakistan's version of quotas—the reservation system—beneficial to women? Why or why not? What are some of the challenges facing women as political actors in Pakistan?

In answering the questions, think about the effect of different kinds of representation, supply and demand factors,

Masuma Hasan makes it clear in her interview that she believes strongly in the reservation system Pakistan now has for female representation. She discusses the two factors bringing Pakistani women into the political fold: One aspect is evolution, which shows that as a country developes and progresses, women will become bigger political players. The other aspect, Hasan argues, is that the government must (as Pakistan has done) create the conditions for women to enter politics (demand factors). The 33.5% local quota and 17.4% state and regional quota have, in her view, put Pakistani women on the right path.

Fatima Bhutto disagrees completely with Hasan and the reservation system. She argues that women have traditionally been in powerful roles in Pakistan (eg before the reservation system) and the system in fact disempowers them. The women in higher levels of government are appointed by their party in proportion to seats won, and the women chosen are "weightless" and "benchwarmers." The women brought to office have no constituency and no mandates. Bhutto makes the case that many of these women are vapid socialites who have no true political will, and therefore hurt women's progress.

I agree with Bhutto on this -- to beat the dead horse we've discussed in class time and time again, descriptive representation is, in my eyes, no progress at all when the woman behind it is anti-women or stands for nothing substantial. Women like this make it too easy to dismiss women in general as legitimate political actors.

In Masuma Hasan’s interview she discussed many of the difficulties involved with women as political actors in Pakistan. Some of the major challenges include voter fraud, low literacy rates, intimidation factors and the cost of an ID card. Masuma Hasan makes it very clear that the women of Pakistan are forced to deal with violence near the polls on voting days. This violence is often times committed by extremely conservative groups, who feel as though women should not be allowed the vote. This intimidation factor leaves women feeling scared for their own well being at the voting polls and results in less women turning out to vote. Aside from violence at the polls, “one of the greatest problems which women face in respect to participation in politics, is that of mobility” (Masuma Hasan). Hasan demonstrates that in order to have political participation one must have mobility in order to move from the home to the voting polls. The challenge of lack of mobility has been a large barrier that women as well as men face during election periods in Pakistan.
Personally, I feel that the greatest challenge these women had to overcome was the Hudood Ordinance which was enacted in 1979 as part of the military ruler’s “Islamization” process. This ordinance made it so that extramarital sex was illegal as well as accusing someone of having extramarital sex. This made it impossible for women to prove an allegation of rape, as the law required four adults to witness the act of penetration. Essentially men could rape the women of Pakistan with little to no consequences. This ordinance was finally changed in 2006 by the Women’s Protection Bill. Many politicians and religious scholars often debate this controversial topic; one argument is that women fearing conviction under “Section 10(2)”, merely bring charges of rape against their male partners, which would result in the male being accused and the female being “exonerated of wrongdoing due to reasonable doubt rule”. I have a hard time believing that this law was created to protect men’s rights, and feel that it was enacted in order to suit men’s interests in taking advantage of women.
Despite these challenges, Masuma Hasan seems to be confident that advancement in terms of women’s involvement in government in will continue to occur. She strongly believes that the effects of women’s participation in politics are starting to be seen, and that more women are participating in politics within Pakistan.


I have to agree with Julia on the subject of the reservation system in Pakistan. While it sounds like a great idea to begin with, it is clearly not practiced in a way where it could create a positive, non-sexist country for the future. The reservation system on the local level seems fair, yet on the state level it seems to lose its functionality. By appointing socialite women themselves, the parties are undermining the capable and qualified women that could actually make a difference in the government. Furthermore, with the placement of unqualified women in these positions stigmatizes women as being inferior and once again indirectly reestablishes sexism even more strongly.

Next, we can look at the differences of opinions between Masuma Hasan and Fatima Bhutto. This, like we discussed in class, could be due to their age difference. Fatima Bhutto in only 26 years old and has a career as a columnist; clearly she will be more outspoken and radical with her opinions. Her disagreement with the former prime ministers ways can be due to her exposure to modern day politics around the world as well as the completely different environment she has grown up in compared to Hasan. Masuma Hasan on the other hand is much older and had her Ph.D long before Fatima was even born. She is much more dedicated and patriotic to her country and its policies and leaders. She has seen the country go through much turmoil and has seen Benazir Bhutto rise and fall from power.

One thing they both seemed to agree on was the progression of their country. They believe it will continue to occur, it may be slow but overtime it seems that they see women being equally represented in their government in the future.

The reservation system is fair in theory but clearly less fair in practice.

SOURCE:www.imow.org

MNA Marvi Memon refused to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Islamabad. Here she explains why in an open letter.

Open Letter to Secretary Clinton

Dear Secretary Clinton,
Whilst the message from you and your government is that of peace and friendship, the Kerry Lugar Bill passed by your legislative branch has been one of the main stumbling blocks in this mission. The assumption that Pakistanis have misunderstood the bill is equally faulty. Pakistanis have read the bill and understood your intent to micromanage Pakistan, to curtail Pakistan’s nuclear expansion program and to direct the war against extremism in Pakistan from White House.

What follows below is an understanding of the bill which needs to be amended if relations between US and patriotic Pakistanis have to be established. Your assertion that if we have issues with the bill we don’t need to take the money is ‘spot on’; patriotic Pakistanis have rejected your mere $1.5 billion. We will not negotiate on our country’s sovereignty and defence. And these are not mere slogans. They are based on facts which we read out of your conditionalities which do exist. And here are the facts Secretary Clinton:

1. The most controversial clause in the bill pertains to giving US ‘direct access to Pakistani nationals associated with such networks’. The explanation given in the note is equally unacceptable because it wants ‘cooperative efforts’ to combat proliferation to continue. This cooperation mentioned is intrusive since it demands ‘direct access’. Secretary Clinton, we have already handled our proliferators and believe in non priliferation. This we consider a breach of our sovereignty.

2. The reference to Pakistan military and intelligence agencies being involved in giving support to terrorists in the past is equally offensive. This is a clause which enables the Indian lobby to target Pakistan and hold it responsible for all future terrorist acts in the region.

3. The other issue pertains to the fact that President Obama’s regional security strategy will include working with ‘relevant governments and organizations in the region and elsewhere.’ The strategy which could include RAW and Mossad would be imposed on Pakistan for US national interest not Pakistan. And as such we cannot give the authority of making Pakistan’s security strategy to a US President.

4. There are references to expansion of Container Security Initiative at various Pakistani ports which we consider a security hazard.

5. The term sanctuary for terrorism implies that Pakistan is a failed state as is included in intelligence reforms and Terrorism Prevention Act 2004.

6. Bill allows ‘irregular forces to be used for US combat operations in Pakistan’ as stated in the Ronald Reagan Act 2005. This in effect gives legal cover to the Dynocores and Blackwaters which we Pakistanis have major issues with and consider a threat to our security.

7. The bill micromanages Pakistan’s important federal government agencies from education, madrassah’s to trade, to judiciary, to natural resources. All aid given will be to NGOs and if more than $100,000 is given those NGO files will become classified. As such Pakistan will not have access to such operations. This we consider an attempt by US to create its own financial political power bases for future.

8. Approximately $860 million of the aid will go back to US in the form of administrative expenses etc. This truly reflects badly on the actual impact on an average Pakistani’s life.

Here were some of the issues with the bill. Now let’s examine what aggravates Pakistani sensitivities with regards to current US policies. And why you are not welcome in Pakistan by patriotic Pakistanis. This might help you understand why over 80% of Pakistanis have issues with your policies as per certain reliable surveys.

1. Firstly, the US stance in the war against extremism is biased towards protecting Indian and Afghan interests. The TTP and Baloch terrorists have been using these two countries and their resources as bases for their operations inside Pakistan as is proven by Pak military evidence. Whilst you consider Pakistan to be sovereign our aid is linked to these two countries which we find distasteful.

2. Whilst Pakistan’s nuclear program is an issue for US, the Indian nuclear program (civil nuclear technology agreement) is being allowed to expand without any blockades.

3. Whilst you have personally complemented Pak military efforts in your recent visit, at the same time there are conditionalities in giving aid to Pakistan to strengthen its military against terrorists. Certainly these terrorists are linked to India and as such conditionalities are one sided. Moreover, if Pakistan military is being complemented why can’t it be trusted with drone technology? Additionally US policy wishes to strengthen Pakistan’s parliament and yet it ignores the resolution passed by Pakistani parliament against drone attacks.

4. Whilst Pakistan is a frontline state which has paid dearly in terms of men lost in battle with terrorists, US considers India and Pakistan to be equals. Where is the advantage Pakistan should get for cooperating on terrorism? $1.5 billion is a joke compared to the billions spent in Afghanistan and Iraq, even in Turkey and Egypt. As well as the fact that no where with other allies has US imposed intrusive conditionalities.

5. Whilst Pakistan is blamed for terrorist sanctuaries how many infiltrators coming from India and Afghanistan specifically have you managed to stop?

6. The commitment for ROZs looks like its dithering. Where is the actual support for the tribals who have suffered the most in the war being fought to destabilize Pakistan?

7. What effort has the US played in cutting drug money which is destabilizing Pakistan and funding terrorism considering its source of entry is US backed Afghan territory. UN report confirms that after US entry into Afghanistan opium production has increased manifold. This is impacting Pakistan’s security since it’s ready financing for terrorism inside Pakistan.

Secretary Clinton,

If you wish to improve Pak-US bilateral, a more productive approach would have been to not justify the bill on arrival but rather to give an open ear to the criticisms with a commitment to amending it. Since there have been no such commitments it seems fruitless to meet with you. This is even more disturbing considering that you have been given plenty of evidence of Pakistani uproar on the bill before your arrival. It’s a pity that the bill was executed minus real Pakistani input. This has no doubt created a diplomatic fiasco for the US. Instead of underestimating the fiasco or considering it a result of Pakistani lack of comprehension, it would have been better to deal with it head on: amending the bill being the only viable option.

Pakistan might have a government which is beholden to you for its future longevity, but there are patriotic Pakistanis who will defend the soil before accepting your policies of creating a US fiefdom in Pakistan. As a young parliamentarian, I would only welcome you to Pakistan once we have evidence of your shift in policy so that Pakistan is dealt with as a sovereign country.

MARVI MEMON
Member of National Assembly of Pakistan

SOURCE:www.defence.pk

Pakistan: Status of Women & the Women's Movement

Four important challenges confronted women in Pakistan in the early 1990s: increasing practical literacy, gaining access to employment opportunities at all levels in the economy, promoting change in the perception of women's roles and status, and gaining a public voice both within and outside of the political process.

There have been various attempts at social and legal reform aimed at improving Muslim women's lives in the subcontinent during the twentieth century. These attempts generally have been related to two broader, intertwined movements: the social reform movement in British India and the growing Muslim nationalist movement. Since partition, the changing status of women in Pakistan largely has been linked with discourse about the role of Islam in a modern state. This debate concerns the extent to which civil rights common in most Western democracies are appropriate in an Islamic society and the way these rights should be reconciled with Islamic family law.

Muslim reformers in the nineteenth century struggled to introduce female education, to ease some of the restrictions on women's activities, to limit polygyny, and to ensure women's rights under Islamic law. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan convened the Mohammedan Educational Conference in the 1870s to promote modern education for Muslims, and he founded the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College. Among the predominantly male participants were many of the earliest proponents of education and improved social status for women. They advocated cooking and sewing classes conducted in a religious framework to advance women's knowledge and skills and to reinforce Islamic values. But progress in women's literacy was slow: by 1921 only four out of every 1,000 Muslim females were literate.

Promoting the education of women was a first step in moving beyond the constraints imposed by purdah. The nationalist struggle helped fray the threads in that socially imposed curtain. Simultaneously, women's roles were questioned, and their empowerment was linked to the larger issues of nationalism and independence. In 1937 the Muslim Personal Law restored rights (such as inheritance of property) that had been lost by women under the Anglicization of certain civil laws. As independence neared, it appeared that the state would give priority to empowering women. Pakistan's founding father, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, said in a speech in 1944:

No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side with you; we are victims of evil customs. It is a crime against humanity that our women are shut up within the four walls of the houses as prisoners. There is no sanction anywhere for the deplorable condition in which our women have to live.

After independence, elite Muslim women in Pakistan continued to advocate women's political empowerment through legal reforms. They mobilized support that led to passage of the Muslim Personal Law of Sharia in 1948, which recognized a woman's right to inherit all forms of property. They were also behind the futile attempt to have the government include a Charter of Women's Rights in the 1956 constitution. The 1961 Muslim Family Laws Ordinance covering marriage and divorce, the most important sociolegal reform that they supported, is still widely regarded as empowering to women.

Two issues--promotion of women's political representation and accommodation between Muslim family law and democratic civil rights--came to dominate discourse about women and sociolegal reform. The second issue gained considerable attention during the regime of Zia ul-Haq (1977-88). Urban women formed groups to protect their rights against apparent discrimination under Zia's Islamization program. It was in the highly visible realm of law that women were able to articulate their objections to the Islamization program initiated by the government in 1979. Protests against the 1979 Enforcement of Hudood Ordinances focused on the failure of hudood (see Glossary) ordinances to distinguish between adultery (zina) and rape (zina-bil-jabr). A man could be convicted of zina only if he were actually observed committing the offense by other men, but a woman could be convicted simply because she became pregnant.

The Women's Action Forum was formed in 1981 to respond to the implementation of the penal code and to strengthen women's position in society generally. The women in the forum, most of whom came from elite families, perceived that many of the laws proposed by the Zia government were discriminatory and would compromise their civil status. In Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad the group agreed on collective leadership and formulated policy statements and engaged in political action to safeguard women's legal position.

The Women's Action Forum has played a central role in exposing the controversy regarding various interpretations of Islamic law and its role in a modern state, and in publicizing ways in which women can play a more active role in politics. Its members led public protests in the mid-1980s against the promulgation of the Law of Evidence. Although the final version was substantially modified, the Women's Action Forum objected to the legislation because it gave unequal weight to testimony by men and women in financial cases. Fundamentally, they objected to the assertion that women and men cannot participate as legal equals in economic affairs.

Beginning in August 1986, the Women's Action Forum members and their supporters led a debate over passage of the Shariat Bill, which decreed that all laws in Pakistan should conform to Islamic law. They argued that the law would undermine the principles of justice, democracy, and fundamental rights of citizens, and they pointed out that Islamic law would become identified solely with the conservative interpretation supported by Zia's government. Most activists felt that the Shariat Bill had the potential to negate many of the rights women had won. In May 1991, a compromise version of the Shariat Bill was adopted, but the debate over whether civil law or Islamic law should prevail in the country continued in the early 1990s.

Discourse about the position of women in Islam and women's roles in a modern Islamic state was sparked by the government's attempts to formalize a specific interpretation of Islamic law. Although the issue of evidence became central to the concern for women's legal status, more mundane matters such as mandatory dress codes for women and whether females could compete in international sports competitions were also being argued.

Another of the challenges faced by Pakistani women concerns their integration into the labor force. Because of economic pressures and the dissolution of extended families in urban areas, many more women are working for wages than in the past. But by 1990 females officially made up only 13 percent of the labor force. Restrictions on their mobility limit their opportunities, and traditional notions of propriety lead families to conceal the extent of work performed by women.

Usually, only the poorest women engage in work--often as midwives, sweepers, or nannies--for compensation outside the home. More often, poor urban women remain at home and sell manufactured goods to a middleman for compensation. More and more urban women have engaged in such activities during the 1990s, although to avoid being shamed few families willingly admit that women contribute to the family economically. Hence, there is little information about the work women do. On the basis of the predominant fiction that most women do no work other than their domestic chores, the government has been hesitant to adopt overt policies to increase women's employment options and to provide legal support for women's labor force participation.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) commissioned a national study in 1992 on women's economic activity to enable policy planners and donor agencies to cut through the existing myths on female labor-force participation. The study addresses the specific reasons that the assessment of women's work in Pakistan is filled with discrepancies and underenumeration and provides a comprehensive discussion of the range of informal- sector work performed by women throughout the country. Information from this study was also incorporated into the Eighth Five-Year Plan (1993-98).

A melding of the traditional social welfare activities of the women's movement and its newly revised political activism appears to have occurred. Diverse groups including the Women's Action Forum, the All-Pakistan Women's Association, the Pakistan Women Lawyers' Association, and the Business and Professional Women's Association, are supporting small-scale projects throughout the country that focus on empowering women. They have been involved in such activities as instituting legal aid for indigent women, opposing the gendered segregation of universities, and publicizing and condemning the growing incidents of violence against women. The Pakistan Women Lawyers' Association has released a series of films educating women about their legal rights; the Business and Professional Women's Association is supporting a comprehensive project inside Yakki Gate, a poor area inside the walled city of Lahore; and the Orangi Pilot Project in Karachi has promoted networks among women who work at home so they need not be dependent on middlemen to acquire raw materials and market the clothes they produce.

The women's movement has shifted from reacting to government legislation to focusing on three primary goals: securing women's political representation in the National Assembly; working to raise women's consciousness, particularly about family planning; and countering suppression of women's rights by defining and articulating positions on events as they occur in order to raise public awareness. An as yet unresolved issue concerns the perpetuation of a set number of seats for women in the National Assembly. Many women activists whose expectations were raised during the brief tenure of Benazir Bhutto's first government (December 1988-August 1990) now believe that, with her return to power in October 1993, they can seize the initiative to bring about a shift in women's personal and public access to power.

SOURCE:womenshistory.about.com