Women and Excluded Groups-Final Report-2016

Women and
Excluded Groups in
Political Parties and
Legislative Bodies
su
Copyrights AAWAZ Programme @2017
AAWAZ Programme is funded by the UKAid

through the Department for International
Development (DFID), AAWAZ was conceived
initially as a five-year programme, from 2012 to
2017. Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI) is the
Management Organisation (MO) for
implementing the AAWAZ programme, while
Pakistans prime civil society organisations:
Aurat Foundation (AF), South-Asia Partnership
Pakistan (SAP-PK), Strengthening Participatory
Organisation (SPO) and Sungi Development
Foundation (SF) form the implementation
consortium responsible for directly working with
communities.
All publications by AAWAZ are copyrighted,

however, can be cited with reference.
Acknowledgements
The author of this study is Marvi Sirmed. She gratefully

acknowledges the assistance of Ms. Safiya Aftab and Mr. Jamal
Janjua in conceiving and designing the research study. All the
interviewees and respondents need special mention because of
their gracious cooperation in the research, and for giving their
quality time and answering myriad questions that the author
put to them from time to time during the course of the project.
Last but not the least, the author also expresses her gratitude
to Mr. Harris Khalique who found value in commissioning this
work.
Women and Excluded Groups in Political Parties and Legislative Bodies
Executive Summary
The participation of all citizens, irrespective of gender, ethnicity, religion and social class, in the political,
policy development and law-making processes, is the cornerstone of a true democracy. Whether in a majoritarian
model of democracy or a pluralistic model, the full and meaningful participation of citizens is a prerequisite for a
functioning democracy. In Pakistan, however, the political landscape lacks the active participation of women and
religious minorities. Different indicators of participation, such as public sector jobs, education, security agencies,
law-making institutions, etc. all depict a huge gap too conspicuous to ignore in this regard.
Pakistan has been observing quotas for women and minorities in political institutions since many decades.
These quotas were increased manifold with the promulgation of the Legal Framework Ordinance 2002 whereby an
unprecedented number of seats was allocated for women in parliament, provincial assemblies and local bodies.
However, much of the critical and analytical material on the impact of these quotas suggests that they have not
made much difference, as the participation of women and minorities leaves much to be desired.1 One study
suggested that women on reserved seats were not able to make substantive difference in terms of promoting
womens interest in policies and resource allocation.2 However, the study did acknowledge that womens presence
on gender quota created role models that led to far greater number of women participating in the formal arena of
politics at the local, provincial and national levels.
Subsequently, this research looks at the nature of political harvest that political parties produce from
minority communities and women through their internal processes and mechanisms, by examining the structures,
processes, and policies of selected political parties. It addresses the issues and forms of political exclusion of
women and minorities in political parties in Pakistan, analysing their current level of participation through
interviews and a detailed review of party documents, and also looking at their future planning on these excluded
communities. The study concludes by making general observations about different factors affecting women and
minorities participation in political parties, examining what hampers this participation from being meaningful
rather than simply token representation, and offers specific recommendations in this regard.
1 Naeem Mirza and Wasim Wagha, Performance of Women Parliamentarians in the 12th National Assembly (2002-2007),
Aurat Foundation (Islamabad, 2008).
2 Andrea Flaschenberg and Farzana Bari, Unmaking Patriarchy through Gender Quotas, Policy Brief: Reviewing Gender
Quotas in Afghanistan and Pakistan (Heinrich Boll Stiftung, 2015).
1
Introduction
If it be admitted that a man possessing absolute power may misuse

that power by wronging his adversaries, why should not a majority be
liable to the same reproach? Men do not change their characters by
uniting with one another; nor does their patience in the presence of
obstacles increase with their strength. For my own part, I cannot
believe it; the power to do everything, which I should refuse to one of
my equals, I will never grant to any number of them.
When Alexis de Tocqueville wrote these lines in the early nineteenth century in "Tyranny of the Majority,3
a section in his seminal work, Democracy in America, he was probably foreseeing the future of democracy in the
specific context of Jacksonian America of that time. Not only did he outline the various challenges American society
would confront in its democratic life, contemporary historians and political thinkers also used his framework to
articulate the most pressing challenges of democracy as a system and as a culture in the context of structural and
political inequalities.
Many political scientists have described these inequalities, which were exacerbated by majoritarian
elements (categorised by religion, gender, language, ethnicity, social class or by some other identifying factors) in
the western democracies. By the time the concept and structure of democracy permeated from societies that had
evolved under democratic principles to societies living under traditional and tribal obligations and kinship
principles, majoritarianism had become a major concern that democracies needed to confront in order to be
effective. It was in this context that pluralist values surfaced in the overall idea of democracy. Just as the
democratic system evolved and concepts like representative democracy emerged, the question of pluralistic
democracy became increasingly important. Pluralistic democracy may be understood as a model or system in
which government by the people operates through competing interest groups. It exists where there are multiple
centers of power,4 which is the case in most societies, especially the tribal agrarian societies of South Asia.
3Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (1835). See Chapter XV, Book 1.

4Claude J. Burtenshaw, The Political Theory of Pluralist Democracy, The Western Political Quarterly Vol. 21, No. 4
(December1968), 577-587.
2
In Pakistan, mainstream social and political power is lopsided in favour of majority and powerful groups.
Although women cannot and should not be seen as a monolithic community, they constitute a major interest group
that needs to have representation in all decision-making processes within the democratic framework. Similarly, a
system without the meaningful participation of religious minorities cannot be a true democracy. In Pakistan, even a
cursory look at the political landscape leads to the conclusion that the political processes and institutions
demonstrate weak representative character. Neither women nor minorities are participating in key decision-
making processes within the countrys democratic institutions in any meaningful way despite their reserved
quotas in the legislature.
The state has over the decades, albeit grudgingly, come to realise the importance of creating space for the
cultural and political role of minorities and women. One manifestation of this is the reserved quotas for these
communities in public sector jobs, local bodies and legislative houses. The quotas aimed to increase their
numerical strength in representative houses. However, they have not managed to transmute into their active
participation in decision-making and law-making processes. While there are many socio-economic causes,
embedded in the context of religion and a patriarchal culture, the most important reason for the lack of success of
reserved quotas is in the way they are implemented. In legislative houses for example, because of the modality of
party nomination lists for womens and minorities seats, it becomes difficult almost impossible to bring forth
substantive and meaningful representation from these groups. Especially in the absence of rigorous processes and
institutionalisation of their roles in political parties, it has become increasingly difficult for women to move beyond
the glass ceiling in party structures, and it is even more difficult for minority candidates to participate beyond
quotas or even to qualify for quota seats within political parties.
Another observation made after three dispensations of legislative quotas (since 2002), is the shrinking of
space for independent women candidates in the elected houses. As per figures of the Election Commission of
Pakistan (ECP), more women contested elections on general seats independently than on party tickets. This depicts
a glaring reality of the political process: there are more women ready and capable of participating in electoral and
political processes than the political parties believe and espouse. It also shows the inability of parties to bring more
women to their folds and their electoral battles.
As far as minorities are concerned, little data is available to make an informed assessment of their electoral
role in recent elections. Taking insights from various election assessment reports (such as those by FAFEN, Aurat
Foundation, SDPI, and Democracy Reporting International, etc.) a negligible number of minority candidates opted
3
for contesting general elections, either independently or on party tickets. In fact, the dearth of data is one indicator
for the lack of recognition of the meaningful political participation of minorities at par with the overwhelming
Muslim majority community.
These electoral trends are markers of the behaviour of political parties vis--vis women and minorities, and
their roles in the parties structures, mechanisms, and processes. They also reflect the overall social tendency of
misunderstanding or not realising the role of these important segments of society.
Keeping in view the above factors, this study was designed in order to assess the internal structures and
modes of decision-making within select political parties as far as the participation of women and minority
communities is concerned. Initially, seven political parties were selected based on their parliamentary presence at
the federal level. But because of the heightened political activity during the course of the research, some of the
parties could not be successfully reached for data and in-depth interviews. The final sample thus includes five
parties: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI),
Awami National Party (ANP), and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI).
Objectives of the Study
This study is an attempt to conduct a fact-finding exercise involving key members of political parties,
aiming to address the following questions:
1. How do the parties view the inclusion of women and other excluded groups in party structures? Do they
see this as a necessary development?
2. What are the reasons for the relatively low participation of women and excluded groups in the political
process, as perceived by party leaders?
3. What sort of effort, if any, have the parties made in the last decade to make their cadres more inclusive?
4. Do the parties have any plans to improve inclusion in the future? If yes, what do these plans entail?
Methodology and Limitations
The first stage of the study comprised extensive and comprehensive review of published works on the
subject of exclusion of women and minorities in the political process within seven major political parties of
Pakistan represented in parliament. In addition to those mentioned above (i.e. PMLN, PPP, PTI, ANP and JI), these
4
included the Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam (JUIF) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). The reviewed publications
include works by academics, civil society activists, and reputed local and international organisations working on
issues of democratic strengthening, gender, and minority rights in Pakistan. Published and unpublished documents
such manifestoes, constitutions, policy papers and position papers from the political parties under study were also
consulted as part of the review.
The literature review aimed to collect and compile data on the participation and representation of women
and minorities in politics and decision-making processes in Pakistan. It helped identify significant trends, obstacles
and opportunities towards mainstreaming the participation of these groups within the landscape of political
parties. It also formed the basis for understanding the historical context, which enabled the researcher to better
situate the evolution of governance structures and systems within these parties, and their impact on the
participation of major groups that are excluded or marginally represented (women and minorities for the purpose
of this study) in an otherwise vibrant political system.
Followed by the literature review, eleven Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) were conducted to further
crystallise the understanding of national best practices that can ensure greater participation and representation of
women and minority communities within political parties. Interviewees were carefully selected to contribute to a
well-formed analysis that included an understanding of the structural, political, social, and cultural context of
different regions in the country.
A questionnaire (appended as Annex B) was also designed to seek information on existing trends of
inclusiveness within the political parties. Administration of the questionnaire on select members of political
parties, in addition to the mapping of key initiatives, enabled the researcher to identify opportunity structures as
and existing spaces for the largely excluded communities within political parties. The questionnaire was
administered on mainly three segments in the parties: representatives of women, minorities, and the mainstream
leadership.
One major limitation of the study was the shortage of time and unavailability of the political leadership for
interviews because of various high profile political developments during the course of the research. Two of the
parties, MQM and JUIF, could not be contacted at all while JIs mainstream leadership was not available for
detailed interviews. There were also two significant constraints in accessing the relevant data. Firstly, very limited
records were available with party secretariats because of an overall ad hoc culture of maintaining and updating
5
organised data within parties. Secondly, the secretariats of almost all the parties were in the process of shifting
their offices because of the recent drive by the Ministry of Interior to shift all business, commercial and non-profit
ventures from residential areas to commercial areas in Islamabad.
The Exclusionary Process

What is Exclusion?
According to the United Kingdoms Department for International Development (DFID), social exclusion is
defined as a process by which certain groups are systematically disadvantaged because they are discriminated
against on the basis of their ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, caste, descent, gender, age, disability, HIV
status, migrant status or where they live. Discrimination occurs in public institutions, such as the legal system or
education and health services, as well as social institutions like the household.5 As Amartya Sen writes, the
historical roots of the concept of social exclusion go back as far as Aristotle.6
For the purpose of this study we focus on the most recent manifestations of social exclusion in Pakistan
that result in the exclusion of communities from processes of progress and growth. Although it is difficult if not
almost impossible for social scientists to obtain empirical evidence for the link between exclusion and poverty,
their relationship can be loosely seen while studying multidimensionality of various social phenomena.
Hilary Silver believes that social exclusion is a socially constructed concept, and can depend on what is
considered normal by a society. In many developing countries, where most people do not enjoy an acceptable
standard of living, defining normal is not easy in fact, in hierarchical societies, the exclusion of people on the
basis of race, caste or gender, may be viewed as normal by those responsible for the exclusion.7
Ludovico Carraro, Sabine Weinzierl, and Simon Hunt first explored the extent of this normal in the case of
Pakistan in detail for Oxford Policy Management in 2004. In their seminal work A Quantitative Assessment of
Social Exclusion in Pakistan, they filled some of the empirical gaps using existing conceptual and qualitative work
to define key variables relevant to social exclusion, including religion, language, gender, disability, access to
5 Joe Beal & Laure-Hlne Piron, DFID Social Exclusion Review, London School of Economics & Political Science and Overseas
Development Institute (London, 2005)
6 Amartya Sen, Social Exclusion: Concept, Application and Scrutiny, Social Development Papers No. 1 (Environment and Social
Development, Asian Development Bank, 2000)

7 Hilary Silver, Social Exclusion and Social Solidarity: Three Paradigms, International Labour Review Vol 133, No. 5-6 (1994),
531-578.
6
land/occupation, and zaat/kinship/caste structures.8 The intersectionality of these variables when combined with
identity-based exclusion especially in societies having asymmetric diversity of primary identities like that of
Pakistan further complicates empirical data. Irrespective of the academic debates, complexities and intricacies of
the subject, social exclusion has been diagnosed as being at the root of inequality and disparity. Due to their
identity, groups that are excluded become largely invisible to the growth process, as they are unable to access
resources, opportunities and a level playing field. In essence, the phenomenon called social exclusion thus
becomes anathematic to social justice, equality, equity and human rights.
Forms of Exclusion
Social exclusion is a process that multiplies with time, combining sub-sections of communities through
intersection of various variables. For example, women in a largely excluded ethnic or religious group are likely to
demonstrate dangerous levels of exclusion over time. The exclusionary process usually involves the systematic
denial of entitlements to resources, opportunities and services, as well as the denial of the right to participate on
equal terms in relationships in economic, social, cultural or political arenas. There are various forms in which the
exclusionary process manifests itself.
Political exclusion usually includes the denial of citizenship rights such as political participation andthe
right to associate or organise. A politically excluded community would have serious issues of personal security and
access to justice, and it occurs when values of the civilised world, like rule of law, freedom of expression and
equality of opportunities do not reach politically excluded communities. According to Bhalla and Lapeyre, political
exclusion also involves the notion that the state, which grants basic rights and civil liberties, is not a neutral agency
but a vehicle of a society's dominant classes, and may thus discriminate between social groups.9
Economic exclusion refers to the inability of individuals or groups to access labour markets, credit and
other forms of capital assets.10 Social exclusion is discrimination along lines of gender, faith, race, ethnicity and
age, which reduces the opportunity for groups to participate in the labour market and social processes.11 Finally,
8 Ludovico Carraro, Sabine Weinzierl, and Simon Hunt, A Quantitative Assessment of Social Exclusion in Pakistan, Oxford
Policy Management (June 2004).
9 Ajit Bhalla and Frederic Lapeyre, Social Exclusion: Towards an Analytical and Operational Framework, Development and
Change Vol 28, No 3 (1997), 413-433.

10 Seema Khan, Topic Guide to Social Exclusion, International Development Department (University of Birmingham, 2009).
11 Ibid.
7
cultural exclusion refers to the extent to which diverse values, norms, and ways of living are accepted and
respected in a society.12
Historical Implications of Exclusion
While it is difficult to empirically assess the linkage between poverty and exclusion, it is a fact that poverty
reduction becomes increasingly difficult in societies with higher levels of social exclusion since this seriously
hampers any effort to reach excluded groups that need to be dragged out of the poverty quagmire. Similarly, the
intersection of multiple forms of exclusion makes it difficult to make any progress on a compound of social
objectives, such as improvements in education, health, malnutrition, etc. Subsequently, exclusion has been
identified as the main obstacle in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by various studies aimed at
assessing the causes of under-achievement of the Goals by third world countries.
In Pakistan, religion, ethnicity and kinship are thought to be significant links between the economic and
social deprivation measured by MDGs. With over 96% Muslim population, the state of Pakistan overtly privileges
the majority faith, which is reflected in a range of constitutional provisions. Although policy statements generally
stress non-discrimination, protection, and minority rights, the fact remains that some citizens are formally
disenfranchised from key political processes of the country, thus limiting their access to opportunities and
resources.13 Effectively, protective and promotional measures such as reserved quotas in electoral representation
and access to public sector resources coexist with discriminatory laws and practices.14 As a result, while non-
Muslim citizens constitute a relatively small proportion of the population under 4 per cent according to the last
census conducted in 1998 they are disproportionately represented among the socially excluded.
Analysis of Inclusiveness in Political Parties
1. Organisational Structure
As far as organisational structure is concerned, all the parties covered in this study generally show mixed
trends. Whereas most of the parties have incorporated Womens and Minorities Wings as integral parts of their
12 Ibid.
13 Haris Gazdar, Syeda Quratulain Masood, and Haider Naqvi, Bottom Up or Top Down? Exclusion and Citizenship in
Pakistan, Collective for Social Science Research (Karachi, 2013)
14 Such discrimination has been visible even in the design of some interventions, which have been classified as social
protection programmes see for example, Naila Kabeer, Can the MDGs provide a pathway to social justice? The challenge of
intersecting inequalities, Institute of Development Studies, MDG Achievement Fund (2010).
8
organisational structures, these Wings commonly remain sidelined despite token representation of these excluded
communities in the central executive bodies.
Awami National Party (ANP)
The case of ANP is unique as the party considers it important to mainstream women and minorities in the
overall party structure instead of ghettoising them by creating silos in the form of separate wings for them.15
Following this approach, ANP does not have separate Wings for minorities and women, but ensures their inclusion
at every level of the party structure and in every decision-making forum within the party. This approach has
produced mixed results, as there is (a) greater cohesion between these communities and the majority male
membership, and (b) comparatively lesser representation of minorities and women at different levels of the party
structure.
It was observed during the study that the party organisation in urban centers of provinces other than
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have little to no representation of women and minorities. Moreover, data show that women
from minority communities are not represented anywhere throughout the range of party platforms. In fact, this
seems to be correct for all the parties being studied, including those that have long-established Minorities Wings.
The representation of women of minority communities is negligible in the decision-making forums of political
parties. The new constitution of ANP (not yet public), which was under constant review during the finalisation of
this report, is said to have incorporated a clause that makes womens representation mandatory in every structure
of the party at all levels (national, provincial, district and local).16 Party members who were interviewed did not
mention any such provision for minority members.
The policy and programme of a political party is usually demonstrated by its manifesto. ANP has two kinds
of manifestoes: one is for the purpose of elections at the beginning of every election cycle, while the other is a
general manifesto that gives key ideological guidelines.17 A Manifesto Committee is usually established by the party
leader in consultation with the Central Working Committee (CWC) for drafting the manifesto. Currently, the CWC
has 8.8% women members and no minority representative.18 It has the power to amend and abrogate the partys
15 Interview with Ms. Bushra Gohar.

16 All the party leaders who were interviewed mentioned this new clause. No other details are available yet, but the new
constitution is expected to be made public very soon.
17 Interviews held during September 2016
18 Central Working Committee, from the ANP website: http://awaminationalparty.org/main/?p=8493
9
constitution and manifesto with two-thirds majority.19 For the Election Manifesto 2013, the Committee had 20%
representation of women while no representation from minorities.20
Table 1: ANP General Council Membership by Gender and Religion21
# General Council Muslim Muslim Non-Muslims Total

men Women
Men Women
1 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 284 17 1 0 302
2 Punjab 150 11 0 0 161
i. Central 77 7 0 0 84
ii. South 73 4 0 0 77
3 Sindh 87 0 0 0 87
4 Balochistan 80 0 0 0 80
Total 601 28 1 0 630
In %age 95.39% 4.4% 0.1% 0 100
Figure 1: General Council, ANP
Among the 28 key office holders of the party, seven (or 20 percent) are women, while two seats are vacant
so far. No minority representation can be seen in the body of key office bearers. The key offices are: President,
Senior Vice President, ten Vice Presidents (of which five have to be women, but currently only four seats are
occupied by women while one remains vacant), Secretary General, Additional Secretary General, eight Joint
Secretaries (of which half have to be women but currently five of these seats are occupied by men and three by
women), Secretary Finance, Secretary Information, Secretary Foreign Affairs, Secretary Labour & Students Affairs,
and Central Chief Commander.
19 Constitution of the ANP, from the ANP Website: http://awaminationalparty.org/main/?p=2964#more-2964

20 Interviews with Mr. Amarjeet Malhotra, Mr. Mohsin Dawar and Ms. Bushra Gohar during September 2016.
21 Source: ANP Website. The information was verified during interviews with ANP members in October 2016.
10
Pakistan Peoples Party
The PPP somewhat agrees with the argument for mainstreaming as opposed to silos, but it also considers it
important to have separate spaces for minorities and women where they can be empowered to organise
themselves, discuss their concerns and priorities, and make decisions about their course of action as distinct but
integrated communities. Although the PPP members interviewed and contacted during the study were not able to
present documents and primary data of their party membership, the rough idea they gave was that the party has
ample representation of women at all levels, including its Central Executive Committee (CEC).
The CEC is the supreme body for setting out the partys strategy and policy. It is chaired by the party
Chairman, who is assisted by the Co-Chairman, Additional Vice Chairmen, and all other office bearers. The party
has a well-established organisational structure at provincial and district levels. There are Provincial Coordination
Committees in all provinces, assisted by the Provincial Presidents, Vice Presidents and other office bearers. Parallel
to this structure is a Womens Wing that has its organisation at all levels too. This brings many women to the
political process, but there appears to be a glass ceiling that does not allow women leaders to be at the helm as
overall office bearers. For example, there was no woman amongst the Provincial or District Presidents, only one
woman among the Vice-Presidents, and few in positions of office bearers as per the available information.22
Moreover, none of the Provincial Coordination or Organising Committees had women members except in Sindh.23
Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz)
PMLN has a well-established structure of Womens and Minorities Wings with presence at all levels of
party organisation. However, their share in decision-making and leadership at the partys center stage is limited to
token representation. The Wings have, it seems, become glass ceilings in the sense that they seem to have created
complacence within the party leadership about the inclusiveness of women and minorities. This complacence rests
on a feel-good factor about inclusiveness owing to somewhat decent numbers of women and minority members
who populate these special Wings. But the structure remains under-utilised and offers little avenue for career
progression to members of these Wings. In this sense, the Wings are only useful to fill the corners well, but are
insufficient and in some cases, hinder women and minorities from being represented and heard in the mainstream.
22 The information about PPPs office bearers has been drawn from news reports of national dailies in September and
November 2016. All the key structures of the party stand dissolved as of now, and a process of re-organisation is underway.
23 PPP website: http://www.ppp.org.pk/party.html All the information from this page was taken off after the dissolution of the
party structure.
11
This is reflected in the key office holders, who are all Muslim males.24 Moreover, no women and minority members
hold leadership positions at provincial (Provincial Presidents) and district (District Presidents) levels,25 except one
woman who is District President in Punjab.26 Also, the handful of women who get powerful positions within their
parties and in parliament due to other factors (their family influence, their social class influence, etc), keep
themselves at distance from these structures as well as other collectives like Womens Parliamentary Caucus etc.
The party constitution does not specify any mandatory inclusion of women or minorities in districts or
other lower level organisations, while the representation (unspecified number) of the Womens Wing is mandatory
for provincial and national organisations. At the same time, the constitution does not bar the appointment of
women and minorities on any position in central decision-making forums of the party at any level. The practice,
however, has been to keep them away from key positions (other than those from their respective Wings).
Figure 2: The Executive Council, PMLN Figure 3: Central Working Committee, PMLN27
Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI)
Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf, despite being a relatively newer party, has replicated the Womens and Minorities
Wings structure within its organisation at national, provincial and district levels. Initially, all office holders were
elected, but because of various internal issues and concerns raised by its members over alleged rigging, intra-party
24 PMLN official website: http://pmln.org/office-bearers

25 PMLN official website; provincial assembly pages.
26 Ms. Saira Afzal Tarar in District Hafizabad, as per PMLN website: http://pmln.org/punjab
27 The CWC consists of party leadership from all provinces, members of the Executive Committee and Ex-Officio Members from
all provinces.
12
elections for 2016 were postponed indefinitely. Subsequently, the office holders were either extended or in some
cases, were replaced with new ones through executive orders by the partys central leadership.28
As far as the organisational structure is concerned, PTIs constitution allows women and minorities to be
represented at every level. Of the four Vice Presidents in the district, regional, and provincial organisations, two
must be women,29 and one of the two Joint Secretaries should be a woman. In addition, there needs to be
mandatory representation from the Womens and Minorities Wings.
The partys constitution provides for the formation of two structures at the national level: a National
Council and a Central Executive Committee. The National Council is to have fifty members from all over the country
comprising five women Vice Presidents from all provinces and a Secretary from the Minorities Wing. The President
of the Womens Wing is the ex-officio Vice President of the National Council. Although the constitution puts no bar
on appointing women on other positions in the National Council, so far the data do not demonstrate a practice of
appointing women on positions other than those specified for them.
The second structure on the national level is the Central Executive Committee (CEC) comprising the Central
Office bearers and thirty members to be nominated by the Chairman from amongst members of the National
Council. These include one member each from Christian, Hindu and Sikh/Parsi/other minority communities. The
Presidents of the provinces are the ex-officio members of the CEC.
The constitution of the party also empowers the Chairman to nominate fifteen members out of the CEC to
constitute a Core Committee (to be approved by the CEC through a secret ballot). The Secretary General and
Provincial Presidents are ex-officio members of the Core Committee. The constitution does not refer to any
mandatory representation from the Womens or Minorities Wings, but in practice the Core Committee almost
always has the Womens Wing President as its ex-officio member. The Core Committee, which changes every year,
currently does not include any member from a minority community.
28 Imran Khan postpones intra-party elections, to be held after Raiwind march, Daily Dawn, April 11, 2016. Available at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1251449
29 Constitution of PTI from the official website: http://www.insaf.pk/about-us/know-pti/constitution
13
Figure 4: Key Party Forums, PTI30
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI)
The structure of JI allows an organisation of women parallel to the main party organisation. That structure
replicates itself at all levels with two positions (one held by a female and one by a male member of the party). This
structure has religious undertones, and it ensures active participation of women while also safeguarding gender
segregation unfailingly.31 The partys constitution provides for the womens organisation to work under the partys
Emir, and not parallel to him. The Emir is at the highest position within the party, followed by the Secretary
General. Under these positions (which are strictly for men), there are ten Assistant Secretary Generals of which five
are women. In that sense, despite claims of a parallel structure of women, there is no parallel position to the Emir.
Moreover, the Emir is mandated by the constitution to appoint and impeach the head of the womens organisation
(Qayyema) in consultation with women members.
Just like the mens organisation, there is a Majlis-e-Shura (Advisory Council) to assist the Qayyema. There
are womens organisational structures at the central, provincial and district levels with their office bearers (all
women) and members who are fairly independent in their decision-making and finances.32 The overall political
choices, however, are made by the mens organisation, though it is mandatory to take the input of the womens
organisation.33 Currently, the womens organisation has established many forums for women to participate and
engage in the political discourse on all aspects of social and political life as well as on matters of the state. There are
30 Data taken from a range of notifications from the Chairman and Secretary General of PTI, accessed from the PTI official
website: http://insaf.pk/notifications/secretary-general-notifications?start=15
31 Interview with Ms. Samia Raheel Qazi on October 7, 2016 in Lahore.
32 Dastuur Jamaat-e-Islami, Zameema, No. 6.
33 The Dastuur does not assert this, but as per the Key Informant Interview, this is an established practice.
14
womens bodies on subjects like foreign policy, terrorism, counter-extremism, economy, education, development
and reforms in addition to womens economic empowerment, women-specific legislation, etc.34
While a similar parallel structure for minorities is not visible, there is a small Minorities Wing that works
independently of the structures of both the mens and womens organisations while remaining within the partys
overall vision and policy. The existence of this Wing could in fact be in conflict with the partys constitution, which
makes it mandatory for all the members to hold Islam as their faith.35
2. Representation in Elected Bodies
The military government of Parvez Musharraf brought the Legal Framework Order (LFO) in 2002, through
which major amendments were made in the 1973 constitution. Under this LFO, the long-standing demand of the
womens movement in Pakistan for reserving seats was accepted in principle. But instead of accepting the original
demand of 33 percent representation, the LFO allowed only a 17 percent representation by reserving 60 seats in a
342-member National Assembly and 17 seats in the 100-member Senate to women.36 Moreover, 17.6% seats were
reserved for women in every Provincial Assembly. This constitutional provision enabled unprecedented numbers
of women to enter the legislative houses, even though a minimal quota had existed since 1956.37
Similarly, Article 51(2A) of the constitution of Pakistan provides ten reserved seats for religious minorities
in the National Assembly, while Article 59(1) provides four seats in the Senate,38 and Article 106 provides 23 seats
in the four Provincial Assemblies. In total, these make 37 out of 1,174 elected members of Majlis-e-Shura and
Provincial Assemblies put together (i.e., 3.1%). There is, however, a caveat in the way these seats are filled. The
political parties get their share of reserved seats in proportion to their numerical strength in the legislature. The
candidates stand elected to the House(s) according to the order of the list provided by political parties, which
submit their lists prior to the elections in descending order of their priority candidates for all reserved seats. This
provides immense discretion to party leaders (currently there is 100% male leadership at the top of all the parties
studied) for selecting candidates of their choice for the reserved seats.
34 Interview with Ms. Samia Raheel Qazi.

35 Article 3 and Article 6(1) in the constitution, the Dastuur Jamaat-e-Islami, which was last published 1995.
36 Under the 18th Amendment in 2010, Senate seats were raised to 104, reserving 4 additional seats for minorities.
37 No elections could be held under this constitution because of the proclamation of Martial Law and abrogation of the
constitution in 1958.
38 Since 2010 after the 18th Constitutional Amendment.
15
The selected members on reserved seats thus face a dilemma in discharging their responsibilities as
members of legislative houses. They have to be loyal to the party discipline (read party leadership) as well as to the
communities they represent, while having opinions on the issues confronting the state and society. The first role
makes them submissive to the party leadership and observant of choices that someone else makes for them, which
is mainly because of the non-representative nature of their membership of the House. The second role, i.e., raising
concerns for the interests of their respective communities, is in many cases unpopular within party cadres and
thus remains limited to non-controversial issues that have some element of consensus within the party. It keeps
them from raising critical issues both within the party and in the legislative house of which they are members. The
third role, i.e. participating in the overall process of legislation and oversight on all the national issues remains
marginally exercised because of their negligible numbers as well as their lack of say within the parties.
As far as minorities are concerned, political parties appear to have done little to expand the sphere and size
of their ranks. Members from minority communities are mostly limited to Minorities Wings, except for ANP, which
has no separate Wings. Despite the mainstreaming policy adopted of ANP, key party structures do not have ample
representation of minorities, such as in the manifesto making body, ticket-awarding committees, etc. Because of
this almost ghettoisation of especially the minorities members in all parties, minorities are neither part of the
mainstream nor is there any mechanism for building their capacities within parties through holding main party
offices and key responsibilities. No party has a spokesperson, for example, belonging to a minority community.
Most importantly, no party (except the JUI-F), has nominated even a single woman on minority seats. Women
belonging to minority communities are not represented anywhere except (extremely marginally so) in NA. In
Provincial Assemblies of Sindh and Punjab one can see one woman each from minority community nominated on
reserved seats for women. The minority seats remain largely a male area so far.
Figure 5: Women on general seats in 2013 and 2008
16
As far as the electoral process is concerned, the practice of awarding tickets for general seats to members
from minority communities does not exist in any party except PPP in Sindh. The main reason for this is the
sporadic population of minority communities in different constituencies, which takes away the collective value of
their vote in one particular constituency. This points to a disturbing reality of Pakistans electoral politics, i.e., a
non-Muslim is not considered to be a candidate who could represent a constituency where most of the voters are
Muslims. None of the parties had awarded a ticket for either National or Provincial Assemblies to non-Muslim
candidates except PPP, which awarded two tickets to non-Muslims in Sindh for Provincial Assembly seats.
This also means that representatives elected from each constituency might find it convenient to not
represent the interests of minority communities because of the negligible voting value compared to the
overwhelming majority, whose interests at times might be at odds with those of the minority communities. A
phenomenon that has been frequently observed in cases of religion-induced clashes in Punjab is that elected
representatives are pushed to side with the will of the majority community. Just a few weeks before the General
Elections in 2013, more than 150 Christian homes were burnt and people were ousted from the Joseph Colony area
of Lahore, but the issue could not even figure in the election campaigns in Lahore. The main reason cited by activist
groups from minority communities was the misuse of the blasphemy law, which was supported by the Barelvi
Muslim community of the area.39 Another major factor is the unavailability of winnable candidates from non-
Muslim communities, which is in turn because, inter alia, parties do not entertain non-Muslims as mainstream
members in their cadres. There is no progression and upward political mobility within political parties for non-
Muslim members. When asked if the party could nominate a non-Muslim member for the position of Prime
Minister or President of the country, a worker of PMLN said that such a candidate would not get any support from
anywhere including the party cadres because a majority of the members and voters is Muslim.
Unlike minority communities, there is an increasing trend of women participating in the electoral process
to be part of the legislative houses beyond their reserved quotas. In the last two General Elections in 2008 and
2013, women were involved in the election process in bigger numbers. One indicator of this trend is the increasing
number of women candidates on general seats. This number went up sharply, with a total of 419 women in the
electoral race in 2013 for general seats, as compared to overall 192 women contestants in 2008. Out of these 419
women, 160 received political party tickets, while 259 contested elections as independent candidates as per a
39 Christian Activists Discuss Joseph Colony Incident, Dawn, March 21, 2013. http://www.dawn.com/news/796868
17
review of election results by the Aurat Foundation based on data released by the Election Commission of
Pakistan.40
Figure 6: Women in direct elections, 2013
A total of 61 party tickets were awarded to women for the National Assembly elections in 2013. Of these 61
women candidates, thirteen were awarded tickets by PPP, eight by PMLN, six by PTI, and two by ANP, while JI did
not award any ticket to women. For Punjab Assembly, 50 women contested elections on party ticket and 112
entered the electoral race as independents out of a total of 162 who contested elections on general seats. Of the 50
women who received party tickets, PMLN gave tickets to nine women, PPP to five, and PTI to four women,41 while
JI and ANP did not give any ticket to women. In Punjab, both these parties contested elections on very limited seats.
In Sindh Assembly, 89 women contested elections on general seats. Of these, 38 women contested on party
ticket while 51 entered the electoral race as independent candidates. Of the 38 who received party tickets, PPP
gave tickets to five women while PMLN and PTI gave tickets to two women each. In KP Assembly, 26 women
contested elections in 2013 on general seats, out of which ten contested on party ticket and sixteen as independent
candidates. Of the ten who received party tickets, PPP, PMLN, and PTI each gave one ticket to women. For
Balochistan Assembly, seven women contested elections in 2013 on general seats. Of these, none of the parties
studied awarded tickets to any woman (only APML awarded a ticket to one woman), and six women contested
elections as independent candidates.42
40
Wasim Wagha, Number of Women Candidates Rises Sharply in 2013 Elections, Legislative Watch Issue 41 (March-November
2013), Aurat Foundation
41 Wasim Wagha, Number of Women Candidates Rises Sharply in 2013 Elections, Aurat Foundation: Legislative Watch Issue
41 (March-November 2013).
42 Ibid.
18
Table 2: Women contesting general seats in General Elections in 2008 and 2013
General Elections 2013

Assemblies From Political Parties Independents Total
National Assembly 61 (45%) 74 (55%) 135
Provincial Assemblies 99 (35%) 185 (65%) 284
Punjab Assembly 50 112 162
KP Assembly 10 16 26
Sindh Assembly 38 51 89
Balochistan Assembly 1 6 7
Subtotal 99 185 284
Grand Total 160 (38%) 259 (62%) 419
General Elections 2008
National Assembly 41 (57%) 31 (43%) 72
Provincial 37 (31%) 83 (69%) 120
Assemblies
Punjab Assembly NA NA 73
KP Assembly NA NA 11
Sindh Assembly NA NA 28
Balochistan Assembly NA NA 8
Subtotal 120 83 120
Grand Total 160 (38%) 259 (62%) 419
Figure 7: Women in direct elections from different parties, 2013
The overall representation of women from PMLN in the National Assembly is 21% of its total
representation (39 out of 189). Out of this, directly elected women are 10% (4 out of 39) and their proportion to
19
directly elected men is 2.7% (4 vs. 148 out of a total of 189).43 There are no directly elected women from PMLN in
Sindh Assembly, and one directly elected woman in Balochistan Assembly. There are eight directly elected PMLN
women in Punjab Assembly out of a total 75 women in that House. In percentage terms, women make 20.3% of the
House. Overall, PMLN women comprise 19% of the entire House and 22% of PMLN representation in the House.
Out of this 22% (69 women), the percentage of directly elected women is 11.5%. The percentage of directly elected
women vis--vis directly elected men becomes 0.003% (or 8 women vs. 290 men).
Figure 8: Directly elected women from PMLN Figure 9: PMLN representation
PPP brought the highest number of directly elected women to the legislative houses of the National
Assembly and Sindh Provincial Assembly. In the National Assembly, overall representation of women from PPP is
28.2% of their total representation (13 out of 46). The directly elected women out of this 28.2% are 38.4% (5 out
of 13) and the percentage of directly elected women with respect to directly elected men comes at 1.36% (1 vs. 73
out of a total of 94).44
There are no directly elected women from PPP in Punjab, Balochistan and KP Assemblies. There is one
directly elected PPP woman in Sindh Assembly out of 30 women. In percentage terms, women make 18% of PPP
representation in that House (17 out of 94). Out of this 18% (17 women), there are 6% directly elected women.
The ratio of directly elected women vis--vis directly elected men is around 0.003% (8 women vs. 290 men).
43 Data taken from websites of the Election Commission of Pakistan and the National Assembly of Pakistan.
44 Ibid.
20
PPP appears to be the only party to have awarded a ticket for general seats to a minority candidate (Mr.
Mahesh Kumar Malani, who won the seat from PS 61 Tharparkar II). He is one of ten members from minority
communities the nine others represent different parties in Sindh Assembly, including five from PPP.45
Figure 10: PPP representation in legislative houses
Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI)
Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf has brought women from mainly urban educated middle class to the fold of politics
through its Womens Wing to the legislative houses (National Assembly, and KP, Sindh and Punjab Assemblies).
However, it did not succeed in bringing directly elected women in any Houses. In KP, there are eleven PTI women
out of 22 women,46 and in the National Assembly PTI women occupy four of the sixty womens seats.47 In other
Houses as well, PTI has brought women on reserved seats according to its share of general seats won (by men).
Data were not available on the number of tickets, if any, awarded to women from PTI for the general elections.
No minority member from PTI has been elected on general seats. The number of seats that minority
members got for all Houses is as per the formula devised by the ECP in line with performance in the elections.
45 Website of the Election Commission of Pakistan:

http://www.ecp.gov.pk/Documents/Downloads/General%20Election%202013/Party%20Position/Party%20Position%20(P
rovincial%20Assembly).pdf
46 Website of the Provincial Assembly of KP: http://www.pakp.gov.pk/2013/members-directory/women-reserved-seats/
47 Website of the National Assembly of Pakistan: http://www.na.gov.pk/en/mna_list_w2.php?list=women
21
Figure 11: PTI representation in legislative houses Figure 12: Non-Muslims in legislative Houses, PTI
Jamaat-e-Islami
Jamaat-e-Islami did not award any ticket to women for general seats. Its women managed to get selected in
KP Assembly only owing to the very few seats that its men won. The party believes that there is no need for women
to contest elections when there is a window for them to be in the legislative houses on reserved seats without
having to go through the labour of the electoral process. The women of JI also do not feel the need to be part of the
electoral process, except in helping the menfolk in their campaigns for reaching out to female voters.48 No minority
member from JI has been brought to legislative houses owing to the small number of general seats won by the
party.
Figure 13: JI Representation in legislative houses
48 Key Informant Interview.
22
Awami National Party
ANP could not bring any women or minority members on general seats, while on reserved seats too they
have negligible numbers due to the poor performance of the candidates on general seats in the 2013 elections.
3. Organisational Culture of Political Parties
The overall observation about the general organisational culture in all the parties, with few exceptions in
specific cases, was that women and minorities are generally peripheral to the decision-making process. There is
zero to very little practice of taking specific and substantial input from women and minorities on key decisions
about policy, strategy, and course of action of the party. Because of the invisible great walls of indifference built
around Minorities and Womens Wings, they have become ceremonial if also essential parts of political parties.
The members of these Wings become a bit relevant only during the election campaigns when they are expected to
reach out to their respective communities in order to canvass for the candidates (usually Muslim males). There are
however fine lines that branch themselves in slightly different patterns within different political parties, but with
generally similar undercurrents.
Tables 3 demonstrate the responses from members of the different political parties when asked how often
specific input is sought from women when making important party decisions such as constitution making and
ticket awarding. Table 4 shows these responses in regard to minorities.
Table 3: Responses from party members regarding input sought from women
Party Responses from Constitution/ Ticket Awarding Taking Policy

Manifesto Making Decisions
ANP Women < 50% 25-50% < 50%
Minority member 25-50% > 10% Upto 20%
General member 25-50% 25-50% 25-50%
JI Women 50-75% < 75% 50-75%
PTI Women 33% 30% 25-50%
Minority member < 75% 25-50% < 75%
General member 25-50% Upto 20% 25-50%
PPP Women > 10% > 10% > 10%
Minority member > 10% > 10% > 10%
General member 50-75% Upto 13% 25-50%
PMLN Women 10% 25-50% > 10%
General member 25-50% Upto 20% Upto 15%
23
Table 4: Responses from party members regarding input sought from minorities
Party Responses from Constitution/ Ticket Awarding Taking Policy

Manifesto Making Decisions
ANP Women < 50% 25-50% < 50%
General member 25-50% 25-50% > 10%
JI Women 50-75% < 75% 50-75%
PTI Women Upto 20% Upto 20% Upto 20%
Minority member 50-75% 25-50% 25-50%
General member > 10% Upto 15% > 10%
PPP Women > 10% > 10% > 10%
General member 50-75% < 75% > 10%
PMLN Women 10% 25-50% > 10%
General member > 10% > 10% 3%
The responses show a divergence of perception about how often parties seek input from women and
minorities before taking key decisions including manifesto making, constitutional amendments, legislative agenda
making, political alliance building, and ticket awarding. There is clear divergence in the perceptions of the excluded
groups, i.e. women and minority members, and the mainstream or majority members regarding the extent of
women and minority input. This sequence is broken only in the parties where some members of these excluded
groups occupy center stage within the party, such as in ANP.
The data help to infer that members from majority and mainstream communities generally perceive the
involvement of excluded communities in key decision making aspects of the party to be much higher than what
these communities themselves perceive. Men from almost all parties think that enough input is taken from women
while women do not appear to agree with this assessment. The same goes for minority members. With the
exception of PTI, minority members from all parties perceive their input in central decision-making to be less than
10%. Clearly, there is much room for improvement in the organisation of every party in this regard.
4. Vision of Political Parties on Inclusion Issues: Focus on the JI
The vision of almost all political parties regarding women and minorities appears to be positive on paper,
as they represent a wide spectrum of the degree to which they see the empowerment of these communities. The
left leaning liberal ANP and somewhat centrist liberal PPP perceive women and minorities as absolute equals in
terms of citizenship as well as in terms of party membership. ANP however, does not put them in separate Wings
like PPP and other parties. Wing politics give an opportunity to a comparatively larger number of representatives
of these communities to be part of the political process. However, it does not necessarily include them in the
24
mainstream body politic of the parties. None of the parties studied have any clause in their constitutions to bar
women and minorities from holding higher political offices of the party or of the state. The problem appears to be
graver in the right leaning centrist parties like PMLN where an organisational culture of ignoring women while
taking important political decisions is perceived to be very high, especially among the women members.49
A detailed examination of the far right religious party, Jamaat-e-Islami, is warranted here, which despite
having separate party structures for women and minorities, falls short of giving them equal status. No
representatives from these communities can hold the highest party offices of the mainstream organisation or of the
state in the JI structure and vision, and the Emir of the party has to be a Muslim male.
The general rhetoric by the men and women of Jamaat-e-Islami in the public discourse invariably renders
politics as male domain owing to the teachings of its founder Maulana Abul Aala Maududi, who viewed the role of
women to be intrinsically different from that of men. In his book on purdah and the status of women, for instance,
he writes, The womans sphere of activity should be separate from that of mans. They should be entrusted with
separate social responsibilities according to their respective natures, and mental and physical abilities.50 He
further emphasises in the same books final chapter (entitled Divine Laws for the Movements of Women) that
women may leave the four walls of their house (char diwari) only if absolutely necessary.51 There are scores of
other references that point to a natural division of labour among men and women in the teachings of JI, where the
womans domain is her home, and her social life is limited to affairs of the family and close circle of friends. Politics
and economic activity appear as male domain with the participation of women only in cases of extreme necessity.
As for religious minorities, the party literature of JI echoes a protectionist and patronising narrative that
discriminates between Muslim and all the non-Muslim communities. For Maulana Maududi, an Islamic state is an
ideological state where residents are divided into those who believes in its ideology (Muslims) and those who do
not (non-Muslims). The responsibility for the policy and administration of such a state, subsequently, "should rest
primarily with those who believe in the Islamic ideology."52
Non-Muslims, as per Maulana Maududis writings, cannot be asked to undertake or be entrusted with the
responsibility of policy-making. While an Islamic state is bound to distinguish (i.e. discriminate) between Muslims
49 Key Informant Interviews.

50 Maulana Abul Aala Maududi, Purdah and the Status of Women in Islam (Lahore: Metro Printers Lahore, 1972).
51 Ibid.
52 Maulana Abul Aala Maududi, The Rights of Non-Muslims in Islamic State (Lahore: Islamic Publications Ltd. Lahore, 1982).
25
and non-Muslims, Islamic law or "Sharia" guarantees to non-Muslims "certain specifically stated rights beyond
which they are not permitted to meddle in the affairs of the state because they do not subscribe to its ideology."53 It
is only once they embrace the Islamic faith that they "become equal participants in all matters concerning the state
and the government."54
It is important to keep these ideological positions in mind while making an analysis about JI because its
emphasis on ideological learning within its ranks is highest among the political parties in Pakistan. Its internal
culture, therefore, is shaped by these teachings regardless of what its continuously evolving constitution says. In
fact, the constitution has undergone key evolutionary changes very rapidly, especially after the legislative quotas
fixed by the dictatorial regime of General Musharraf in 2000-01.
This evolution echoed loudly in the decision of the party in 2014 to expand its ranks to minority
communities and in its recently held womens convention entitled Role of Women in Changing World in October
2016 in which the Emir, Maulana Siraj-ul-Haq, outlined the new postulates for the party about womens
participation. Although he rubbished the principle of equality by calling it a western way of exploiting women, he
articulated his partys vision for womens empowerment while delineating many rights for protecting womens
economic and political participation.55 He has previously also spoken about womens social empowerment and
legal rights, such as inheritance, safe working environment, mobility, etc. as well as protection from violence.56
About minorities however, the JIs constitution is still silent, even though a Minorities Wing at central level
was established in 2014. Despite the above-mentioned ideological teachings of its founder, the leaders of JI now
increasingly talk about minorities rights, declaring them equal citizens of Pakistan.57 However, the membership
process of the party asks the applicant to declare his or faith faith in there is no god but Allah and Mohammad
(PBUH) is His Prophet, thereby restricting it to Muslims only.
The issue was explained by the Central Information Secretary of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Mr. Ameer-ul-Azeem
during a media talk in June 2015. He explained that recruits enter the party organisation at the beginner
53 Ibid.
54 Ibid.
55 Speech by Maulana Siraj ul Haq, JIs Convention in Naushehra, KP, October 22-23, 2016.
56 Maulana Siraj ul Haq, Takmeel-e-Pakistan Ka Agenda, which is a compilation of his speeches in the National Convention of JI
from November 21-23 2014.

57 Statement of Emir Jamaat-e-Islami Multan, April 2013. See:
http://www3.pakobserver.net/201304/04/detailnews.asp?id=202635
26
sympathiser (ibtadai muttafiq) level and that, They are engaged with various Jamaat affiliates or the main party at
the district level. Their dedication to the partys activities determines if they will or will not graduate to the status
of a member (rukn).58 He also noted that the inclusion of non-Muslims in the Electoral College for electing the
partys Emir was under discussion.59 No further information was available on this matter.
5. What do the Manifestoes Say?

The manifestoes of all parties being studied for this report look quite progressive compared to their actual
organisational culture and participation figures.
Awami National Party
The ANP manifesto states in its Preamble that it is dedicated, inter alia, to the fulfillment of the genuine and
legitimate aspirations of all groups and strata of the society, particularly the weak, the disadvantaged and the
dispossessed. Among its main commitments to women under the manifesto of 2013, ANP includes the following:
- Efforts to increase womens participation in decision-making at all levels to a minimum of 33%

representation in political parties, parliament, provincial assemblies, local government, public services,
superior judiciary, public commissions, and boards etc.
- Evolving consensus on direct elections for women to all elected positions including on reserved
seats/quota
- Providing women meaningful and requisite technical and financial support to enable their effective
participation in all spheres of life
- Equal access and opportunities to employment for women, taking effective administrative steps to
ensure implementation of the existing 10% quota for women
- Effective implementation of legislation enacted for womens rights and empowerment
- Repealing all discriminatory laws and policies that infringe on the equal rights of women and their
participation in decision making within the state, family, community and society
- Promulgation of the pending domestic violence legislation and trafficking of women
- Complying with existing international conventions/instruments ratified by Pakistan addressing violence

against women and ratifying the Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
58 Jamaat Considers Expansion of Cadres among Non-Muslims, The Express Tribune, June 11, 2015.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/901583/jamaat-considers-expansion-of-cadre-among-non-muslims/
59 Ibid.
27
Rights and other relevant instruments relating to trafficking of women and children and violence against
women
- Ensuring that no laws, regulations, Policies and codes of conduct prescribed and adopted by the state
exclude and/or discriminate against women
- Prohibiting deals between local elders and political parties that bar women from exercising their right to
vote and/or contest elections
Additionally, under the rubric of Minorities Rights in the manifesto, commitments made with minority
communities include:
- Struggling for a secular democratic and pluralistic Pakistan with equal rights and opportunities for all
citizens
- Repealing amendments made to the 1973 constitution mainly by dictators relegating religious
minorities to a secondary status
- Reviewing and removing all discriminations against religious minorities in the constitution and the law
and ensuring affirmative action to integrate religious minorities as equal citizens
- Strictly prohibiting incitement to violence against citizens of other ethnicities, faiths and religions
The Constitution of PMLN states the membership requirements as open to all citizens who are not
members of any other political party, irrespective of caste, creed, ethnicity, gender, religion or sect. The manifesto
of PMLN for the General Elections 2013 makes the following commitments towards women while making Islam the
sole basis of granting them their rights:60
- Ensure respect, dignity, and protection granted by Islam to women and protect their property rights
- Promote participation of women in national development and their social, political and economic
empowerment by recognising their role as agents of change
- Give preference to women teachers in primary education
- Promote female education especially vocational skills training and healthcare programmes to overcome
gender gaps
- Enact or improve legislation on violence against women and child abuse, and eliminate illegal and unjust
practices under which women are discriminated against
60 Chapter 4, A New Framework for Social Change, in the PMLN Manifesto 2013.
28
- Expand micro credit for female borrowers substantially as a part of the empowerment process,
combined with special house building credit facilities for widows
- Initiate an integrated population welfare programme across Pakistan to mainly improve female literacy
- Increase womens participation ratios in financial institutions, superior judiciary, health and educational
management and law enforcement agencies at the executive level
- Safeguard the inheritance and property rights of female heirs
- Enforce institutional mechanisms against harassment of women in the workplace
- Establish Day Care facilities to support working women
- Initiate a Women Entrepreneurship Financing Scheme to promote women entrepreneurship
For minorities, PMLN makes Islam the basic code for granting them the rights prescribed by Islamic
teachings while acknowledging religious minorities as equal citizens having same rights as Muslims. The manifesto
acknowledges the minorities rights to complete freedom of worshipping, and to education and employment in all
sectors of the economy. While pledging to address minorities issues through decisive steps to restore their
confidence, the manifesto makes following commitments with religious minorities:
- National Day for minorities to be celebrated to promote integration
- Necessary legislative measures to ensure there is no forced conversion of religion in the guise of
marriage
- Increased minority representation in the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB)
- Introduce special quota for minorities in educational institutions and public sector jobs including
diplomatic missions
- Permission to the Christian community to run their own schools and colleges
- Doubling the development funds earmarked for minorities
- Hindu Marriage Bill
- Official leave and advance salary to celebrate their religious festivals in whichever province they are
The PPP constitution opens membership to all citizens of Pakistan who believe in PPPs programme as
incorporated in the Foundation Meeting Document dated November 30-December 1, 1967. The document
however was not available for review. Apparently, it is not accessible to most PPP members. Same is the case with
29
the party constitution, which is out of print and most of the members of the Women, Minorities and Youth Wings as
well as members from the general cadres do not have it. The aforementioned details for the purpose of this report
have been taken from the constitution of PPP-USA, which is specific to overseas Pakistanis only.61
The manifesto of 2013 reiterates the vision of the partys founder i.e., promotion of democratic rights and
social justice within the context of our own cultural and religious identity. The manifesto makes the following
commitments with regard to women:
- Further strengthen the Benazir Income Support Programme by expanding education, vocational training
and health services
- Institute quotas in political parties to increase the participation of women, proposing a law for political
parties to commit to an additional 10 per cent quota for women while selecting candidates on general
seats
- A Fair Pay and Fair Job Policy for women, and an Equality Commission that will work to ensure fair pay
for women and minorities
- Ensure no discrimination on the basis of sex, religion or class
- Increase the job quota for women to 20 per cent
- Ensure the mandatory representation of women in all private- and public-sector boards
- Engage the National Commission for Human Development to target one million women for literacy and
education programmes
- Frame progressive legislation and ensure its implementation at all levels to secure womens rights to
life, dignity, access to resources, employment, inheritance and justice
- Legislation for the prevention of acid crimes to safeguard women, and on the rights of home-based
women workers and against domestic violence
- Provision of credit for women entrepreneurs and rural women farmers
- Training women entrepreneurs to set up or expand SME businesses, district level cottage and craft
industries
- Offer social protection to single women not under the care of parentsand families, as well as widows
and women with special needs
- Special programme to ensure that every woman giving birth is provided safe medical support and every
child born is entitled to protection, nutrition and vaccination until the age of 5 years
61 The Constitution of Pakistan Peoples Party (Overseas) is available at: http://pppusa.info/constitution.html
30
- Promote womens participation in all fields of work
- Appointment of women in high-level decision making positions
- Quota for women judges to make women integral to the judicial process at all levels
- Protection of women by initiating reforms in law enforcement agencies and banning illegal alternative
justice systems that legitimise crimes against women
With regard to minorities, the 2013 manifesto makes following commitments:
- Create equal opportunities through progressive legislation and policy reform
- Build consensus for special procedures in the law to prevent forced conversions
- Incorporate into the primary and high school curriculum the August 11, 1947 speech of Quaid-e-Azam
Mohammad Ali Jinnah, which provided a roadmap for religious harmony in the country
- Strengthen interfaith harmony and promote dialogue by involving the best religious scholars of the
country
- Protect religious properties and places of worship with effective security, and refurbish, expand and
rebuild them where necessary
- Acknowledging that violence which takes lives and destroys property can never be fully compensated,
make reparations for lost assets, incomes and opportunities
- Ensure monitoring by the Equality Commission of the implementation of job quotas for minorities,
people with disabilities and other communities facing discrimination
- Add one more seat in parliament for minorities to represent the Islamabad Capital Territory
- Revive and reconstitute the National Commission on Minorities as a statutory body
- Seek parliaments advice to review the effects of constitutional clauses that discriminate on the basis of
religion
- Ensure that all educational institutions protect their students from discrimination on the grounds of
religion
- Ensure that a more inclusive curriculum respecting diversity and promoting inclusivity
- Encourage religious tolerance within society through public information campaigns and by sending a
clear, unequivocal message to the institutions of the state that state institutions and actors engaging in
bigotry, intolerance, discrimination and abuse will be held accountable
- Urge media houses to set up mechanisms for monitoring and accountability that discourage
irresponsible and inaccurate reporting while taking note of public incitement to violence and hate
speech against any segment of society, particularly religious minorities
31
- Conduct awareness-raising exercises to train the media on reporting on minority issues
The most significant of these commitments is the one that pledges (although in an enveloped way) to
review the constitutional clauses that discriminate on the basis of religion. Many of these clauses were put in the
constitution of Pakistan under the first PPP government (1973-77).
Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf
PTI is the only party that carries a chapter with the title Gender Policy rather than calling it commitments
to women only. However, the contents of the chapter mainly address women rather than dealing with issues
through an all-encompassing lens of gender mainstreaming. The manifesto of 2013 makes the following
commitments on gender:
- Repeal all discriminatory provisions from the constitution of Pakistan
- Restore federal and provincial Ministries for Women
- Increase the budget for development under the proposed Ministry of Law, Justice & Human Rights
- Setting up Insafgah one step Women Centers at UC level to provide medical, economic, legal, economic
direction, references and aid to women
- Draft a national policy for women home based workers
- Provision of training programs, subsidies and monetary incentives to increase opportunities for self
employment of women
- Provision of maternity benefits, flexible timings and transport facilities to working women
- Minimum 20% job quota for women
- Mother & Child Health Programme with 24/7 MCH services, as well as reproductive health programs
and ensuring womens control over decision of their reproductive health
- Provision of access, equity and quality in education regardless of gender, incentivising girls education,
and reviewing curricula to remove gender based stereotypes
- Ensure significant and meaningful participation of women at all levels
- Zero tolerance for any agreements barring women from voting
On minorities, PTIs manifesto of 2013 bases all its commitments on Jinnahs vision of rights of minorities
in Pakistan (as enshrined in his August 11, 1947 speech). The following is committed with regard to minorities:
32
- Equal opportunities and protection under the law
- Freedom to practice religion as defined under the constitution
- Zero tolerance for any abuse of or threat to or violence against any minority groups
- Minorities due representation in all state institutions
- Access to economic opportunities available to all other Pakistanis
- Banning of all hate literature and speech
Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan
Jamaat-e-Islamis manifesto of 2013 makes specific commitments with women for ensuring their legal,
economic and political rights in accordance with the Islamic Sharia and acknowledges their right to contribute to
the progress and development of the country because they are fifty percent of our countrys population. The
Manifesto makes following commitments to women:
- Ensuring their inheritance and ownership rights as ordained in Islam
- Elimination of all un-Islamic anti-women practices like dowry, ignoring the marriage rights of widows,
marriage with Quran, Vanni, marriage in exchange, Karo-Kari and killings in the name of honour
- Separate educational facilities for women from primary to higher education including medical
professional education
- Awareness raising and legislation of Islamic injunctions against three simultaneous divorce calls by men
- Elimination of violence against women through social and legislative means
- Facilities for working women
- Extension in the retirement age of working women especially for the divorced and widows
- Four months maternity leave for women with full pay while leaves for rearing children on half pay with
full job security
- Steps to ensure that women get admission to their closest medical colleges and universities
- Encouraging home-based working industries for women, and ensuring that preference is given to
women teachers for all primary education
33
The JI manifesto of 2013 acknowledges religious minorities as an important part of Pakistans population
and pledges to provide them complete constitutional and legal protection. The following commitments are made
with minorities in the document:
- Individual issues of religious minorities to be dealt with under their personal laws
- Ensure their education, employment and other civic rights
- Respect and protect their worship places to be ensured
- Discriminatory, unfair and unjust attitudes towards minorities to be addressed
- Appropriate mechanism to be devised for voting by and election of representatives of the minorities
6. Future Vision and Plans addressing Exclusion Issues
Almost all the parties studied have no specific policy proposal under discussion to be adopted for greater
inclusiveness within their organisation and decision-making processes, other than what is already committed in
their most recent manifestoes. The ANP was reviewing its constitution and discussing to make it mandatory that at
least one woman is represented in every party forum and constitutional position. These proposals (which were
approved in October 2016 but are not yet made public) have already been reflected in the section on
organisational structure above. Almost every party has plans to further strengthen its Womens and Minorities
Wings and give them greater representation in the decision-making processes. But their members shared no
further information on specific proposals to that effect.
The legislative agendas of ANP, PPP, PMLN and PTI Women of Jamaat-e-Islami do not think it is
include proposing legislation on issues of violence and important or necessary for them to go for
general discrimination against women and minorities in direct elections and campaign door to door.
economic and political fields. JI too has legislative proposals But we will definitely award tickets to
for womens empowerment in the light of Islamic Sharia as women on general seats if such a law is
passed whereby such awarding of tickets is
described in the above section on manifestoes. No specific
made mandatory. However, we will oppose
proposal addressing inclusiveness issues was reported to be
such a step if brought to the Parliament.
under discussion in JI except for strengthening the Ms. Samia Raheel Qazi, JI
organisation of women and expanding welfare programs for
women.
34
Concluding Observations
1. A fixed but limited number of seats in legislative houses have been reserved for minorities for much of
Pakistans parliamentary history. In 1973 when the present constitution was promulgated, provision was made
for religious minorities to vote for their representatives, but under this system they were not empowered to
vote for candidates on general seats, which were considered to be the sole domain of Muslims. The system was
not very popular with minority communities because it further marginalised and isolated them from having
any say in the mainstream political process. Constitutional reforms introduced under General Musharraf
proved further catastrophic for minorities, as they took away their power to even elect their own
representatives as under the LFO 2002, reserved seats were to be filled through nominations by party leaders,
thereby giving precedence to the party leaders over the voters from minority community.
2. As per a constitutional amendment, 10 seats in the National Assembly and 23 seats in Provincial Assemblies (3
in Balochistan, 3 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 8 in Punjab, and 9 in Sindh) were reserved for minorities.62 Later in
2010, four seats were reserved in the Senate as part of the 18th Constitutional Amendment. This makes a total
of 37 minorities seats in all the legislative houses comprising 1,174 total seats, making their representation to
be a marginal 3%, proportionate to their share in the population but far from being a critical mass that could
influence decision-making.
3. Another major issue overlooked by successive parliamentary mandates since 2002 has been the democratic
modality of filling reserved seats for women and minorities. The current method of filling the quota seats by
nominations for the appointment of members rather than direct elections of representatives in proportion to
the number of seats they win (not even the size of the vote, although even that would have been undemocratic
in spirit), has made representation of minorities and women most ineffective and non-representative.
4. Non-Muslims and women have virtually no say in the election (or rather selection) of members who are
supposed to be their representatives. In most cases, minority appointees get selected in a general political
environment of rent seeking, cronyism and nepotism that engulfs most of the social and political fabric of the
country. They are obliged to follow the line of their party leaders and patrons rather than safeguarding the
interests of the communities they represent.63 The same goes for the quota seats of women, where appointees
62 Article 106 of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan 1973.

63 Informal interviews with Christian community members in Lal Kurti, Rawalpindi, October 10-18, 2016.
35
face multiple pressures, including always being in the good books of patrons within parties as there is no other
way to stay in the political process even in the legislative houses. The modality of selection also prevents
womens groups from nominating and voting for candidates of their choice.
5. Parties working through specialised Wings have developed an attitude of carelessness towards these Wings
and their right to be meaningfully consulted has been hugely compromised. The input of women and minorities
is seldom taken. Even when it is, its incorporation in key policy decisions within parties remains a weak area.
6. Even where specialised Wings for women and minorities do not exist and a mainstreaming argument is
followed, excluded groups have not benefitted meaningfully as their actual representation remains dismal.
However, minority and women members of ANP insist that their concerns are better represented in the party
process even if they are not represented physically at many forums, alluding to the gender-sensitive and
minorities-sympathetic worldview of male Muslim members.
7. One striking observation was the inability of parties to nominate women from minority communities for either
reserved seats for women or for minorities. Not only that, the Minorities Wings of all parties have very small
numbers of minority women, with zero representation in decision making forums within the party. Only two
parties have so far nominated minority women on womens seats (PML-Functional nominated Ms. Rita Ishwar
in Sindh Assembly) and on minorities seats (JUI-F has nominated Ms. Asiya Nasir in the National Assembly).
8. Likewise, the most marginalised groups within minorities (untouchables, Dalits, Scheduled Caste Hindus,
Protestants, Parsis, Jains, Buddhists, etc.) go largely missing from the parties internal structures as well as
party nominations for legislative houses. However, PMLN has nominated one Parsi to the National Assembly on
reserved seats for minorities. But that has more to do with social status of the family in question than any
consideration about empowering the disenfranchised Parsi community.
9. Representation of women and minorities has been negligible in key forums such as ticket awarding
committees, manifesto making committees and think tanks/policy advisory forums in all the parties studied.
10. Powerful women in political parties who have achieved a degree of political empowerment and influence do
not like to be associated with Womens Wings or gender-based politics in the party. This defeats the very
purpose of specialised Wings because the subliminal messaging it generates is discouraging their members
regarding the effectiveness of their organisation.
36
Recommendations
1. All political parties should be convinced to undergo a comprehensive gender audit,64 or gender self-assessment
that includes the lens of minorities inclusion too. Rights based organisations and programmes must develop a
gender audit toolkit for assisting political parties in this process.
2. As a preferable course of action towards the comprehensive Gender & Inclusion Audit (GIA), parties can
establish a Gender & Inclusion Audit Working Group and either commission the work to a professional
organisation with proven record in gender audits, or work with rights based organisations/programmes. The
support of a centrally placed Working Group from the party would be critical in terms of creating demand and
ownership from within. The Working Group must comprise representation of the central leadership, central
working committee, executive committee and specialised Wings for women and minorities.
3. The Audit must ensure that a survey of party members and leaders attitude towards women and minorities is
skilfully done alongside mapping their perceptions about existing party practices with regard to gender and
minorities inclusion. As part of this exercise, a detailed examination also needs to be done for the positions
held by women and minority members within the parties and in the institutions of state as party nominees.
4. The Gender & Inclusion Audit is not an end in itself, but a tool to generate necessary information in order to
improve party structures and mechanisms. The completion of GIA should lead to another milestone Gender &
Inclusion Action Plan. On the basis of the gaps identified in the gender audit, parties should develop a
consensus on a Gender & Inclusion Action Plan with a buy-in of party leadership as well as the established
Equality Mechanisms (e.g. Womens and Minorities Wings) within the party.
5. All parties should review their constitutions/rules of business guaranteeing representation of women and
minorities in political party decision-making bodies. For example, the recent constitution review process of
ANP has brought many constitutional amendments to this effect.
64Pippa Norris, Promoting Womens Political Participation, OSCE/ODIHR (Harvard University). This is a methodology for
assessing party processes, procedures, structures, culture and activities from a gender perspective,to identify discriminatory
practices direct or indirect, formal or informal that can perpetuategender inequality and hinder women from advancing
in theirpolitical careers.
37
6. The current system of filling the reserved seats for minorities Criteria for Gender & Minorities Friendly Parties:
needs to be replaced with a dual system that would enable
The political partys Constitution ensures balanced
the disenfranchised communities to choose their participation of men & women, majority & minority groups in all
decision-making bodies, on party electoral lists and for all
representatives directly, but without losing the right to vote nominated and appointed positions.
for mainstream, general representatives in their
Gender equality & equal citizenship of minorities is mentioned
constituencies. as a basic party value in its statutes, policies and programmes.
The party keeps updated records of party members at local,

7. Civil society organisations and gender mainstreaming regional and national levels, including members of the board;
programmes should engage political parties in discussions and all data is disaggregated by sex and religious identity.
about mainstreaming women and minorities in party The party undertakes regular gender & minorities inclusion
audits to identify processes and practices thatcan discriminate
structures and introducing amendments in party against women & minorities, and to assess progress towards
equality.
constitutions for mandatory consultations with Womens and
Minorities Wings for all decision making. Specific gender-equality priorities are elaborated; some of
these priorities are included in the electoral campaigns and
promises of the party.
8. Women and minority representatives (from the specialised
The partys gender-equality mechanism [which can be in the
Wings if the party has them) should be appointed ex-officio form of specialized Wings for women & minorities or some
other mechanism adopted by the party] regularly and freely
members of all decision-making forums including manifesto-
initiates intra-party and public discussionon equality issues.
making committees, ticket-awarding bodies, policy-making
The party serves as a conduit between rights based groups
committees and executive councils/committees. within civil society, parliament and government.
The partys resources are distributed fairly between members

9. The representation of minorities must not be determined and candidates from women & men and majority & minority
based on their proportion in the population. Rather, the groups.
objective should be to bring forward a critical mass of The political party budget provides for financing for the equality
mechanisms [specialized Wings or any other mechanism that
excluded communities (women included) to the legislative party may have adopted] and equality policies/strategies within
the party.
houses and in other spheres of political, economic and social
life. The critical mass as calculated by social scientists is The party has established a complaints mechanism and
procedure that allows both men/women and majority/minority
usually 30-35%.65 It is therefore recommended that womens members to bring cases of gender/faith-based misconduct or
discrimination, to the partys attention.
reserved quota should be at least 33% (although the initial
- Adapted from the Handbook of Womens Political Participation,
demand of Womens Action Forum Pakistan was 50%
OSCE/ODIHR
65Drude Dahlerup, "The story of the theory of critical mass," Politics & Gender Vol 2 No. 4 (Dec 2006), 511522.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/politics-and-gender/article/the-story-of-the-theory-of-critical-
mass/592171C05B9B828DBBDCC121B05780D4
38
representation at all levels). Out of this quota, at least 33% should be fixed for women from minority
communities. Moreover, at least 15% of the total seats should be reserved for minorities. There should be no
bar, however, on minority women from being elected (rather than selected) on minority seats as well.
10. The same proportion of seats must be ensured at all the internal forums of political parties for bringing the
marginalised groups forward as a critical mass to the mainstream processes.
11. There should be an in-depth informed debate on preferred modalities for filling reserved seats. An appropriate
formula must be developed by rights based organisations/programmes and presented to parliament for debate
and legislation. Special care should be taken in devising this formula, as it must not compromise democratic
principles of representativeness and must propose election versus selection, alongside refraining from
usurping communities right to choose their representatives and candidates. The formula should also ensure
that the election constituencies for women and minorities are not so geographically expanded that they might
make it doubly difficult for the already marginalised communities to campaign, which can become excessively
expensive due to electoral canvassing.
12. Parties should establish a special fund to finance at least a portion of election campaigns on the reserved seats
for at least five election cycles.
13. The reserved seats should be time-bound, e.g. for five election cycles in order for the marginalised, excluded
communities to become mainstream, rather than making quota seats perpetual clutches for these groups.
39
Annex A: Questionnaire
1. When making the manifesto, how many times is specific input sought from women?
a. Less than 10%
b. Between 25%-50%
c. Between 50%-75%
d. More than 75%
e. Any other percentage figure
2. When making the manifesto, how many times is specific input sought from minorities?
a. Less than 10%
b. Between 25%-50%
c. Between 50%-75%
d. More than 75%
3. How much is the representation of women in manifesto-making body?

a. Less than 10%
b. Between 25%-50%
c. Between 50%-75%
d. More than 75%
4. How much is the representation of minorities in manifesto-making body?

a. Less than 10%
b. Between 25%-50%
c. Between 50%-75%
d. More than 75%
5. How many times is the input of women sought by ticket-awarding body during the ticket award process at
all levels?
a. Less than 10%
b. Between 25%-50%
c. Between 50%-75%
d. More than 75%
40
6. How many times is the input of minorities sought by ticket-awarding body during the ticket award process
at all levels?
a. Less than 10%
b. Between 25%-50%
c. Between 50%-75%
d. More than 75%
7. How much is the representation of women in ticket-awarding body?

a. Less than 10%
b. Between 25%-50%
c. Between 50%-75%
d. More than 75%
8. How much is the representation of minorities in ticket-awarding body?

a. Less than 10%
b. Between 25%-50%
c. Between 50%-75%
d. More than 75%
9. How many times is the input of women sought while making policy decisions at central executive forum?
a. Less than 10%
b. Between 25%-50%
c. Between 50%-75%
d. More than 75%
10. How many times is the input of non-Muslims is sought while making policy decisions at central executive
forum?
a. Less than 10%
b. Between 25%-50%
c. Between 50%-75%
d. More than 75%
11. Is there certain percentage of women fixed for the membership of central executive forum? How much?
41
12. Is there certain percentage of non-Muslims fixed for the membership of central executive forum? How
much?
13. What is main mechanism to increase / ensure womens participation in central decision making of the
party?
a. An active Womens Wing that is consulted before making all decisions
b. There is a written or unwritten rule for a certain %age of Women consulted while making decisions
c. There is a written/unwritten rule / tradition of awarding tickets to certain percentage of women at
all levels
d. There is a womens pressure group within the party that reviews all decisions and gives input
e. There is a plan for all or one of the above
14. What is main mechanism to increase / ensure non-Muslims participation in central decision making of the
party?
a. An active Minorities Wing that is consulted before making all decisions
b. There is a written or unwritten rule for a certain %age of non-Muslims consulted while making
decisions
c. There is a written/unwritten rule / tradition of awarding tickets to certain percentage of non-
Muslims at all levels
d. There is a minorities pressure group within the party that reviews all decisions and gives input
e. There is a plan for all or one of the above
15. How would you rate dynamism of partys Women Wing in terms of regular elections, giving structured
input to party decisions and reaching out to women voters?
a. Less than 10%
b. Between 25%-50%
c. Between 50%-75%
d. More than 75%
16. How would you rate dynamism of partys Minorities Wing in terms of regular elections, giving structured
input to party decisions and reaching out to non-Muslim voters?
a. Less than 10%
b. Between 25%-50%
c. Between 50%-75%
d. More than 75%
42
17. Is there any document other than Manifesto and Constitution that delineates the partys policy on women
and provides roadmap to the implementation of that part of manifesto/constitution?
18. Is there any document other than Manifesto and Constitution that delineates the partys policy on non-
Muslims and provides roadmap to the implementation of that part of manifesto/constitution?
19. What are major factors affecting relatively lower womens participation at various party tiers and decision-
making process?
20. What are major factors affecting relatively lower non-Muslims participation at various party tiers and
decision-making process?
21. Has any forum within the party (name the forum please), discussed during last one year about increasing
womens participation in partys work?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Happened more than one year ago
d. Was discussed but no follow up after that
e. Was discussed and being pursued actively
22. If your answer is e in last question, what are the main recommendations of that process?
23. Has any forum within the party (name the forum please), discussed during last one year about increasing
non-Muslims participation in partys work?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Happened more than one year ago
d. Was discussed but no follow up after that
e. Was discussed and being pursued actively
24. If your answer is e in last question, what are the main recommendations of that process?
25. What are the main steps that party wants to take before the next elections in order to increase womens
role within the party?
26. What are the main steps that party wants to take before the next elections in order to increase non-
Muslims role within the party?
43

Women and Excluded Groups-Final Report-2016

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Women and Excluded Groups-Final Report-2016

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Women and

AAWAZ Programme is funded by the UKAid

All publications by AAWAZ are copyrighted,

The author of this study is Marvi Sirmed. She gratefully

Quotas in Afghanistan and Pakistan (Heinrich Boll Stiftung, 2015).

Women and Excluded Groups in Political Parties and Legislative Bodies

If it be admitted that a man possessing absolute power may misuse

3Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (1835). See Chapter XV, Book 1.

Objectives of the Study

Methodology and Limitations

The Exclusionary Process

Development, Asian Development Bank, 2000)

Change Vol 28, No 3 (1997), 413-433.

Historical Implications of Exclusion

Analysis of Inclusiveness in Political Parties

Awami National Party (ANP)

15 Interview with Ms. Bushra Gohar.

Table 1: ANP General Council Membership by Gender and Religion21

# General Council Muslim Muslim Non-Muslims Total

Figure 1: General Council, ANP

19 Constitution of the ANP, from the ANP Website: http://awaminationalparty.org/main/?p=2964#more-2964

Pakistan Peoples Party

Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz)

Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI)

24 PMLN official website: http://pmln.org/office-bearers

Figure 4: Key Party Forums, PTI30

2. Representation in Elected Bodies

34 Interview with Ms. Samia Raheel Qazi.

Figure 5: Women on general seats in 2013 and 2008

Figure 6: Women in direct elections, 2013

General Elections 2013

Figure 7: Women in direct elections from different parties, 2013

Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz)

Figure 8: Directly elected women from PMLN Figure 9: PMLN representation

Pakistan Peoples Party

Figure 10: PPP representation in legislative houses

Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI)

45 Website of the Election Commission of Pakistan:

Figure 13: JI Representation in legislative houses

48 Key Informant Interview.

Awami National Party

3. Organisational Culture of Political Parties

Party Responses from Constitution/ Ticket Awarding Taking Policy

Party Responses from Constitution/ Ticket Awarding Taking Policy

4. Vision of Political Parties on Inclusion Issues: Focus on the JI

49 Key Informant Interviews.

from November 21-23 2014.

5. What do the Manifestoes Say?

Awami National Party

- Efforts to increase womens participation in decision-making at all levels to a minimum of 33%

- Effective implementation of legislation enacted for womens rights and empowerment

- Promulgation of the pending domestic violence legislation and trafficking of women

- Complying with existing international conventions/instruments ratified by Pakistan addressing violence

Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz)

- Give preference to women teachers in primary education

- Safeguard the inheritance and property rights of female heirs

- Enforce institutional mechanisms against harassment of women in the workplace

- Establish Day Care facilities to support working women

- Initiate a Women Entrepreneurship Financing Scheme to promote women entrepreneurship

- National Day for minorities to be celebrated to promote integration

- Increased minority representation in the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB)

- Doubling the development funds earmarked for minorities

- Hindu Marriage Bill

Pakistan Peoples Party