Interim chair for NCSW demanded

Islamabad: Women’s Action Forum (WAF), Islamabad on Tuesday expressed immense concern at the recent developments that have left the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) without the office of chair.

In a statement issued by the Forum, WAF said that the NCSW has been working since 2000 to provide strategic input to government and non-governmental institutes to promote “social, economic, political rights of women as provided in the Constitution of Pakistan and in accordance with international declarations, conventions, treaties, covenants and agreements relating to women.”

“We believe that the setting aside the appointment of chair over a small procedural matter has had the unfortunate effect of bringing to a halt the operations of the NCSW,” says the statement. The statement highlighted the fact that the judges should be cognizant of the impact of their judgments on the functioning of national institutions. “Leaving NCSW without the Chair is equivalent to stalling the work of this much needed national institution.”

On February 6, 2018, in its judgment on ‘Dr Farzana Bari vs Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights and others’ case, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) set aside the notification of Chairperson NCSW on grounds that the decision of the selection of final name by a seven member committee formulated by then Prime Minister was out of the scope of the NCSW Act,2012.

The decision says that, “It is not disputed that the Prime Minister, in exercise of his executive authority, could have constituted a committee within Prime Minister Secretariat for assisting him in selecting three candidates out of the list of seven eligible/suitable candidates, but he could not have constituted a committee to make recommendations regarding appointment of the Chairperson of the NCSW.”