ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday issued notice to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on a plea against non-allocation of 5pc quota for women by political parties for the upcoming general elections.
IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq heard the petition and issued notice to the ECP, seeking its response by Wednesday (tomorrow).
Naeem Ahmed Mirza, executive director of Aurat Foundation filed the petition, revealing that only PML-N and MQM-P allocated over 5pc of their parties tickets to women for 266 National Assembly seats, while other political parties failed to meet this requirement.
The petitioner sought the court’s direction for the ECP to decide his pending application.
The petitioner said that he had filed an application with the ECP, urging it to act in accordance with the law and ensure that the political parties observe the 5 percent women quota in the award of tickets to their candidates. However, the ECP had not taken any action on his application till date.
The IHC issued a notice to the ECP for Wednesday.
The petitioner cited a letter written by the Aurat Foundation to the ECP, in which it had informed the commission about the failure of the major political parties to award 5 per cent tickets to female candidates and had demanded legal action against them.
According to data shared by the petitioner, in the National Assembly, several parties including the PPP, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), the Awami National Party (ANP), the Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), the JUI-F, and the BNP did not meet the requirement of allocating at least 5 percent of their tickets to women for general seats.
Conversely, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) and the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) complied with the quota, with more than 5 percent of their tickets awarded to female candidates for the National Assembly.
In the Punjab Assembly, findings indicate that PML-N, PPPP, JI, MQM, and TLP did not fulfill the requirement of allocating 5 percent of their tickets to women. Notably, the PML-N, despite its national performance, also fell short in this regard at the provincial level.
Similar trends were observed in the Sindh Assembly, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, and Balochistan Assembly, where various parties failed to meet the 5 percent quota for female candidates on general seats. The issue underscores the ongoing struggle for gender parity and representation within Pakistan’s political landscape.
