PPP, JI and others ‘fail’ to ensure 5pc quota for women on general seats

ISLAMABAD: Aurat Foundation (AF) on Saturday filed a complaint with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), claiming that major political parties, including PPP and Jamat-e-Islami (JI), have failed to ensure five per cent mandatory quota for women on general seats, ARY News reported.

In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Raja Sultan, the Aurat Foundation expressed concern over the political parties’ “failure” to ensure five per cent mandatory quota for women on general seats in each of the four Provincial Assemblies and National Assembly as per the Article 206 of the Elections Act 2017.

According to the statistics shared by the organisation, the PPP, JI, ANP, TLP, JUI-F and BNP have not met the requirement of awarding at least 5% party tickets to women on general seats.

In Punjab, PML-N, PPP, JI and TLP failed to ensure mandatory quota for women. Similarly in Sindh, MQM-P, ANP and TLP did not award at least 5% party tickets to women.

“We are dismayed to find that some political parties have not observed the legal requirement under section 206 of the Election Act 2017 and section 6 of the code of conduct for political parties,” the statement said.

The AF urged the electoral watchdog to take legal action as per Section 217(1) of the Election Act against those political parties who violated Section 206 and awarded less than the mandatory 5% party tickets to women.

The letter also noted that the ECP has not uploaded separate party lists of the women candidates on general seats on its website till to-date.

The foundation noted that all the political parties submit an affidavit during the process of the election schedule that they have complied with the provisions of the Act, including Section 206.

“If they have not met the minimum requirement of awarding 5% tickets to women on general seats, this should be considered a case of false declaration of information.”

Last month, the ECP directed all the political parties to ensure mandatory 5 per cent representation of women candidates on general seats under Section 206 of the Elections Act, 2017.