PHC moved to reserve seats for Fata women in Senate, NA

PESHAWAR: Two women from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) on Saturday moved the Peshawar High Court (PHC) for allocation of reserved seats for tribal women in both the Senate and National Assembly.

The petition was filed by Mehreen Afridi, chairperson Fata Youth Empowerment and Development Association, and Nadia Khan, director operations of the association, through their legal counsel Fazal Shah Mohmand.

The president and prime minister of Pakistan through their respective principal secretaries, speaker National Assembly, chairman Senate and secretary National Assembly, Chief Election Commissioner, chairperson National Commission on the Status of Women, Secretary States and Frontier Regions (Safron) and secretary Law Department have been made parties in the petition. The petitioners requested the court to give directions to the respondents to reserve seats for the women of Fata in both the lower and upper house of parliament as per their population and thus ensure the participation and representation of the women of the tribal areas in the parliament. In the petition, it was submitted that the recent developments regarding Fata created a ray of hope among the people of tribal areas and they were pleased that they would be brought on a par with the people of other areas in context of the Constitution, law and system of government. The petitioners stated that their hopes didn’t materialise as the issue of Fata reforms was pursued and then discarded for reasons best known to the respondents.

“The people of tribal areas are the most neglected and deprived, particularly the women of these areas who are not provided any sort of opportunities, representation, contribution and participation by the Constitution and law of the land,” the petition claimed.

They said the people of Fata, particularly women in the peculiar circumstances and customs of the area, have no opportunities to use and develop their potential, which is an injustice with them in the present day scenario.

It was submitted that the Constitution of Pakistan ensures elimination of exploitation and equality of citizens and also ensures that there shall be no discrimination on the basis of sex. It was stated that three percent seats were allocated for women in the parliament as per the Constitution of 1956 and 1962 and was subsequently increased. It noted that according to Article 51 of the Constitution of Pakistan, 60 out of 342 seats of National Assembly have been reserved for women in all four provinces.

The petition said that as per Article 59 of the Constitution, out of 104 seats in the Senate, four women each are to be elected by members of the four provincial assemblies, besides one woman from the federal capital area.