The National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) has expressed concerned that women in certain constituencies may be deprived of their right to vote yet again.
The commission has directly learnt from different sources of a variety of tactics deployed by local influential and others to deprive women of their vote. The worrying sign is that this is not only limited to far-flung areas but also in constituencies of main districts of all four provinces. These include some polling areas of Quetta, Mardan, Lakki Marwat, Nankana Sahib, Chakwal, Mandi Bahauddin, Sargodha, Shaheed Benazirabad and Karachi.
In a statement, NCSW Chairperson Khawar Mumtaz demanded that women’s right to vote be ensured and not denied on any pretext whether local traditions, agreements amongst candidates or their supporters or on account of mobility.
Under section 170 (a) (vii) of the Elections Act, 2017 it is an offence to prevent any woman from contesting elections or exercising her right to vote. The offence carries a punishment of up to three years imprisonment or fine which may extend to Rs 100,000. Further, the Election Commission can declare election in any constituency null and void should the turnout of women voting be less than ten percent of the total votes polled in the constituency.
The NCSW has forwarded complaints to the Election Commission of Pakistan and appreciates the prompt action taken by it. NCSW hopes that gender desks will be established in the control rooms of the provincial election commissions as directed by the ECP and effective interventions will be made on any such complaints on the polling day.
“In addition, we call upon presiding officers to remain vigilant about women voters’ turnout and to play an effective role through their special reports in exercise of their powers under section 91 of the Elections Act,” said the NCSW chairperson.
Published in Daily Times, July 25th 2018.
