Dialogue on gender gap in electoral rolls

Islamabad : For genuine women political participation and their role in decision making, former Senator Farhatullah Babur on Thursday suggested direct elections on reserved seats for women by giving women voters the right of double voting so that they can elect candidates of their choice in the Parliament.

He was speaking at the second 'National Dialogue on Gender Gap in Electoral Rolls' organised by National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) in collaboration with DAI-Tabeer programme. Moderated by Dr. Attiya Inayatullah, the discussion session highlighted potential strategies and policy recommendations to address the impediments to women’s computerised national identity card (CNIC) registration. The speakers highlighted the urgency to ensure universal registration to close the gender gap in the electoral rolls.

The dialogue featured comprehensive presentations from the commission, Tabeer team and Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on steps taken and challenges met in ensuring women political participation in Elections 2018. The speakers said that things improved in terms of women political participation both as candidates and voters in the previous elections but a lot more needs to be done for

Farhatullah Babur was of the opinion since the year 2002, reserved seats for women had served as the extension of male power in politics.