A vote of her own

Women voters, in many cases for the very first time in history or the first time in decades, voted in areas of the country where they had not been permitted to cast ballots in the past, mainly as a result of agreements reached between jirgas. Shamefully, these agreements had in the past been backed at times by all major political parties. The decision by the ECP to declare the result of the election in PK-95 in Lower Dir null and void in 2015 because women had not voted has proved to be an important catalyst for change. The Election Act of 2017 says that the result will not be recognised in any constituency where less than 10 percent of registered women voters cast their ballots. The impact was quite dramatic, notably in Dir where women turned out to vote for the first time since the 1990s. In a few villages scattered across Khyber Pakhtunhwa, very few women voted, with district officials stating that this was a choice they made on their own. Perhaps the situation will change with time and the knowledge of women voting elsewhere in the country. KP is not the only province affected by deals which prevent women from voting. In the village of Jahan Khan located in Sahiwal’s NA-147 and adjoining areas women came out to vote for the first after tribal leaders in the area were told by administrative officials that an election result would not be accepted unless women voted.

In Balochistan too women came out to vote, despite the threat of violence that hung over the province that has seen hundreds of deaths during the election campaign, some on election day itself.. We need all our parties to be doing just the same, though it is already encouraging to see that more tickets for general seats were handed out by major parties to women this time around. These women sometimes sprung crucial surprises. In Dera Ghazi Khan, Zartaj Gull of the PTI overturned Sardar Awais Khan Leghari, a scion of the powerful Leghari tribe and the son of late president Farooq Khan Leghari. This alone would come as a shock in an area where patriarchy rules. Women were also seen in Peshawar and every other city and town in the country. Their presence represented a move towards a more equal Pakistan. We must hope the trend will continue and that the ten percent ratio for women currently put in place will rise stage by stage as balloting by women becomes increasingly acceptable and a part of the election norm.