Cell set up to take up issues of women candidates, voters

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Commission on the Status of Women (KPCSW) has set up a Women’s Elections Monitoring Cell to take up issues faced by women voters and female candidates with the authorities concerned.

“The Women’s Election Monitoring Cell shall be linked up with the control room in the Elections Commission, the Chief Minister’s Secretariat and the Home Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for redressing of the issues,” said chairperson of the commission, Neelam Toru, at a press conference Monday.

Unveiling the strategy of the commission for monitoring women’s electoral participation in the 2018 general elections as candidates and voters and for providing support in case of violation of their rights, she said elections cell was functional and shall be receiving complaints and coordinating until July 26.

Flanked by Shabina Ayaz, Resident Director, Aurat Foundation, and others, the chairperson said that 60 observers had been nominated by the commission for monitoring. They are members of the District Committees on Status of Women and civil society.

“The commission shall undertake pre-polling and election day observation by engaging in an exercise of its mandate of monitoring procedure and institutions for women empowerment in the province,” she explained.

Neelam Toru said the 60 observers would be deployed in 10 districts of the province to carry out pre-polling and election day observations, where women as voters have faced challenges in one way or the other in the general elections. These districts are Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Nowshera, Swabi, Charsadda, Peshawar and Kohat.

Shabina Ayaz said that the Election Commission of Pakistan had already taken notice of the report of the Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability about likely agreements between candidates and elders for the disenfranchisement of women in several constituencies.

Neelam Toru said the KPCSW and civil society organisations would strictly monitor women’s voting. The commission would adopt legal course against the violators if such agreements were made and women stopped from voting, she added.

However, she said in case of any violation, the voters can lodge their complaints on landline numbers (091-9216107 and 091-921697) of the Election Monitoring Cell from 8 am to 7 pm on the election day. The cell number 03118274492 shall also be accessible 24 hours until July 26 for reporting through SMS/Whatsapp.