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Legal Framework of Pakistan’s Election.

By: Abdul Salam

PESHAWAR: Women running for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provincial assembly in the July 25 general election can prove that women in elected office have been more successful than their male counterparts in participation.

Although there are far fewer female members in KP’s assembly, on average they pushed through twice as many resolutions both at the provincial and federal level from 2013 to 2018. This suggests if there had been more women in the assembly, legislators could have gotten more done.

In 2013, after taking control of KP’s local government, Pakistan’s  Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which means “Movement for Justice,” focused on measuring the quality of local governance. It collected and categorized contributions made by every assembly member during each KP session, and published the results on a website.

This trove of data for the first time allows the public to evaluate individual performance of assembly members. And one thing is clear: Women come out on top.

Even though no female candidates won the popular vote from any party in the 2013 election, they served in 21 seats reserved for women, compared to 100 seats held by men. Despite a common prejudice that women do not perform well in politics and governing — as well as concerns by progressive groups that women’s voices might be marginalized within the assembly — the data prove that women outperform men.

Of 767 times of participations on various resolutions or bills pushed in the assembly during the 2013-2018 period, 617 times of participations were made by men, or 6.1 per male member, compared to 150 by women or 7.1 per female member.

Female legislators tend to sponsor more bills on social issues, including those that address the rights of women and children to education, health and other social protections. However, many of those bills are killed or shelved by the male-dominated assembly.

Bills become laws when passed, while resolutions urge actions by governmental bodies but are not legally binding.

Women dominate in contributions to resolutions

Women lead in proposing local level bills
Women are nearly even with men in proposing bills. Women contributed to 31 bills while men contributed to 164 bills. That means each male legislator contributed on average to 1.64 bills and women 1.47.

Further our research shows that women propose bills that would have a local impact while male legislators are more preoccupied with national legislation. Women are nearly twice as likely than men to propose a provincial level law.

Qoumi Wattan Party drive KP’s women-led legislative success
The analysis of 21 female members of KP’s assembly shows that the Qoumi Wattan Party women sponsor more bills and resolutions than women from any other party. Women from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) female were the least active.

In discussion with reserved seat member Meraj Hamayun Khan, Qoumi Watan Party told News Lens that they had submitted seven others bills in the house but due to none discussion by the members of the house, these were dropped and are still pending. On a question on why there were no participations by female members of PTI ruling party she noted that most of her female colleagues from the opposition were disinterested during assembly sessions and were discouraged by male members from participating. News Lens reached out to nearly all female assembly members from PTI for comment but they either did not respond or declined to comment.

Hamayun Khan added that because of the male dominance in the house and in other positions in the KP’s assembly, most of the time women are prevented from introducing debates on issues they feel are important and men formed a bloc to kill those debates.

ANP male members of the house performing better than other
Our research on data shows that male members of ANP participation is higher on average than males from other political parties and other parties often participate only on select issues. For example, members from the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan were most active in using legislation to promote mega projects for infrastructure development.

strong>Women have stronger track record in KP’s assembly

Despite their minority in the KP assembly and low participation of women in the ruling party, female legislators are outperforming men. This suggests that with more women in office, more laws could be passed and implemented, often in interest of increasing social services to citizens at the local level. But due to various reasons well-qualified women are not being elected.

Gulalai Ismail, Founder Aware Girls told News Lens, that no doubt women performed better than male during last ruling tenure despite obstruction efforts by their male counterparts.

Ismail added that practical barriers to women running for office also need to be addressed. To ensure more women participate from all political, fees need to be reduced and parties need to fund the campaigns of women running on their ticket. .

And further, she said, in the absence of a mechanism for reporting and punished cases of sexual harassment, many women are unwilling to take the risk of running. She feels that as long as women feel unsafe in the political sphere, they will not turn out to run in large numbers.

Further she pointed to a practice of referring bills that address women’s rights to the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), where a conservative interpretation of Islam dominates, for review. So instead of the opposition killing bills outright, many bills sponsored or co-sponsored by women to promote women’s rights are criticized by the CII, which is rarely sent bills to review that touch on other subjects or were proposed by the ruling party.

In KP’s assembly they have approved around eight women specific resolutions, which includes women safety, women participations in political process, and others related to women empowerments in last five years. Further in additions to that women department is now actively work on women related issue and promoting gender equality in KP’s.

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Electoral Landscape in KP

From: Saba Rehman (Peshawar)

Peshawar and Mardan are two of the largest cities in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The national elections are just around the corner, the official date being July 25th, 2018. The main players in Peshawar and Mardan are Awami National Party (ANP) Pakistan Tehreek I Insaf (PTI) Pakistan People party (PPP), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JI), while some candidates will be contesting elections independently. The party candidates will be contesting for the National Assembly and Provincial Assembly of Pakistan.

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Legal Framework of Pakistan’s Election.

By: Shiraz Hasnat

Lahore: The hand that rocks the cradle, rocks the world…will likely be put to literal translation in the upcoming general elections of Pakistan. A number of women candidates are expected to contest on the general seats this year. As in all other walks of life, Pakistani females are ready to give everyone a run for their money in politics too. The number of women who reached the parliament has been strikingly low. Only three females namely, Begum Kalsoom Nawaz,Samina Khalid Ghurki and Shazia Mubashir  since 2002 ruled the roost. According to the election rulebook, it is mandatory for every political party to allot 5%of their issued tickets to females; if the party fails to comply its registration can get cancelled.

In the 2018 election twelve women candidates will be contesting for the 14 constituencies of Lahore for the National Assembly, out of which 8 have allegiance with different political parties while 4 are independent.

The Pakistan Tehreek e insaaf has issued just one national assembly general seat ticket from NA 124 to Yasmeen Rashid while Mutahida Majlis Amal also issued one ticket frm NA 134 to Anila Mehmood. Tehreek e Labaik has issued two national assembly general seat tickets from Lahore to Sumaira Noreen NA 124 and Maimona Khalid NA 125. Pak Sar Zameen party has issued one ticket to Samia Naz from NA 125. National party issued NA 129 ticket to Kishwar Bano, Pakistan Muslim League (Q) issued a ticket to Zaiba Ihsan from NA 131 while the Pakistan Peoples’ Party has issued one ticket on general seats from Lahore to Samina Khalid Ghurki from NA 132. Four independent women candidates are also contesting including Rehana Ahmed from NA 125, Musarat Jamshed Cheema from NA 127, Farzana Butt from NA 129 while former MNA Shazia Mubasher Iqbal from NA 134.

However, The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz had issued two tickets to Mariam Nawaz Sharif from NA 127 and PP 174 but due to her disqualification after 8 years imprisonment by accountability court, these tickets were later issued to male candidates and now they don’t have a single woman candidate on any of the general seats of national and provincial assemblies in Lahore.

Similarly on the 30 provincial assembly seats around 15 women candidates are contesting including four independent. The independent candidates are Robina Sulehri noor from pp 153, Robina Kosar from pp 156, Hina Pervaiz Butt from pp 158 and Khadija Hasan from pp 166.

Pakistan Peoples party have issued three tickets to women candidates on provincial assembly general seats including Zaib un Nisa from pp 144, Noreen Saleem from pp 146 while Robina Sohail Butt from pp 173.Pak Sar Zameen Party issued pp 150 ticket to Nawra Khar while Allah o Akber party issued pp 149 ticket to Saira Bano and pp 151 ticket to Syeda Tahira Sherazi. Tehreek Labiak issued pp 164 ticket to Mariam Azhar, All Pakistan Muslim League issued pp167 ticket to Sumaira Bibi, National Party issued pp 169 ticket to Noba Asif while Awami Party Pakistan issued pp 171 ticket to Nasreen Bibi. However, PTI did not issue a single ticket to any women candidate on provincial assembly seats in Lahore.

PTI candidate from NA 125 Doctor Yasmeen Rashid declared financial restrictions as basic reason behind less numbers of women candidates on general election seats. She claimed that this time a new precedent is being set with the notable increase of female candidates despite their financial dependence on their families, but it cannot be completely ruled out and becomes a deterrent despite the women’s willingness to participate in the elections.    

MMA candidate from NA 134 Anila Mehmood was very optimistic of her success and claimed that she has the full support of her husband and family members in her election campaign. She was satisfied with the public’s positive response and interest in her manifesto during her campaign.

Citizens have different point of view in this regard some of them are claiming that gender is not a hindrance for any candidate to contest since the society is now  mature and people vote for strong candidates. Others claimed that people are mature and they give importance to women and believe in their abilities. A citizen Khuram said that now more women are participating in election and their winning ratios have also increased compared to previous elections. A woman voter ume kalsoom said that due to social media now the people are wise enough to believe in women supremacy and empowerment.   

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‘JEEP’ emerges as a controversial symbol in Pakistan’s Election

By Shiraz Hasnat

Lahore:  The electoral symbol of jeep has sparked a new controversy during the tumultuous pre-election political scenario in the country. Chaudhary Nisar, the estranged PML-N stalwart pioneered in securing the” jeep” which now boasts of a large number of amorous suitors, resulting in its debut in the media’s spotlight. It turned into a common notion that all the “Jeep riders” have secured their victory in the elections. So much so that the majority of other estranged PML-N leaders and those denied the tickets too preferred to serenade the public with jeep as their electoral symbol, strengthening the notion that a likeminded group of the ex-PML-N will be formed to add fuel to the fire surrounding this party.

Some political analysts even suggested that this is an “army jeep”, which resulted in a press conference by the army spokesperson categorically denying this allegation and saying that army jeeps are not of this color.  With the rising demand of this symbol, Chaudhary Nisar too gave an explanation saying that he is not planning to make a likeminded group of ex-PML-N nor has he suggested other candidates to demand for this symbol, he chose it of his own freewill and all other notions are based on falsehood.

The popularity of this symbol can be gauged from such reports that in some constituencies more than one candidate applied for this symbol so the returning officers resorted to a toss to justify allotting the symbol. Lahore’s NA-132 is one such constituency where the toss resulted in the favor of Muhammad Ramzan who will now pursue public’s support with the jeep.

As many as 6 candidates from 30 national assembly seats while 26 candidates out of 30 provincial assembly seats have got the election symbol of jeep. The dissident leaders of PML N, Zaeem Qadri from NA 125, Tajamul Hussain from NA 129 are contesting on Jeep symbol. While the remaining candidates are Muhammad Nazim from NA 128, Nadeem Ahmed from NA 131, Muhammad Ramzan from NA 132 and Sardar Kamil umer from NA 136.

26 candidates who got the jeep symbol are Muhammad Naveed from PP 144, Inam Ullah Khan from PP 145, Mian Salman Shoib from PP 146, Ali Adnan from 148, Ajasam Sharif from PP 149, Muahmmad Akram from 150, Haider abbas from PP 151, Saeed Ahmed Khan from pp 152, Allau Din from PP 153, Waheed Gul from PP 154, Mian Abid Ali from PP 155, Muhammad Zubiar from PP 156, Sikander Ali Shah from PP 157, Mian Saleem Raza from PP 158, Mian Naeem Mir from PP 159, Saad Farrukh from PP 160, Ali Irfan from PP 161, Miraj Hussain from PP 162, Ashraf Masih from PP 163, Ghulam Muhammad from PP 164, Nasir Javed from PP 165, Muahmmad Idrees from PP 166, Muahmmad Shahbaz from PP 168, Rana Bakhtyar from PP 171 and Shahzad nazir from PP 172.  

 The candidates contesting the elections with jeep symbol state different reasons behind their choice. Some claimed that since it is their constitutional right given by the Election Commission to choose a symbol, jeep is as good a choice as any other symbol. Others felt that since most of the election campaign is conducted on jeeps so this seemed like a very apt choice. On the condition of anonymity one of the estranged PML-N leaders disclosed that since Chaudhry Nisar has chosen this symbol so other likeminded candidates are also preferring it in order to make a support group in the post-election scenario.

Public had a mixed reaction to the jeep symbol, some said that it either denoted the exPML-N leaders or the support of the establishment. Others felt that this acquiring this symbol can work both in the favor of the candidate and against their interest as well. Still others believed that it is an ordinary electoral symbol and will not have much effect since the real tug of war will be between those candidates who are ticket holders of the leading political parties.

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Election laws empower women in Quetta

By Malik Achakzai

Quetta: The Election Act 2017 has revamped Balochistan; a conservative province where constituents will be able to vote for various female candidates contesting the general seats for the first time in the history of Pakistan.

Quetta is the capital city of Balochistan where the number of registered voters is 683, 957 in total, with men constituting 399,122 of them, and female voters being 284, 835, all of them combined will be electing 3 national assembly seats and 9 provincial assembly seats in light of the 2017 census result and delimitation process.

Every political party is obliged to have 5 percent general seats for women to be elected by the direct votes of the registered voters as per Election Act 2017. Although  the political parties are following the law, the contesting female candidates argue that they are not given tickets for seats that are traditionally the winning ones or those from the party’s majority vote bank.

Only three female candidates for the 2018 elections would be contesting three National Assembly seats in Quetta, while 58 male members have been eligible for the contest. A mere 13 female candidates out of 234 candidates are contesting for provincial assembly as per the data issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Sitting in a corner alongside her party fellows and male participants at a gathering in Pashtoon Abad, the capital’s periphery, Sana Durrani looks confident and hopeful about successfully gaining votes for her party manifesto.

“The political parties are not serious about letting the women’s wing and activists contest  the winning seats because the conservative tribal structure is rather patriarchal”, says Sana Durrani, a candidate from the newly formed Balochistan Awami Party on reserved seats for women.

“Most of the political parties’ leadership send forth their family members or allocate reserved seats on the basis of nepotism within the party, the women who are selected this way are unable to speak regarding these issues and remain vocal in parliamentary politics,” says Sana.

She allegedly blames the traditional and cultural structure of the Pashtun and Baloch societies across the province and she believes that women do not receive their due share in economy, property and even in the family, as women are treated as equals when it comes to men.

The ex-MNA from northern Balochistan’s Pishin district, Naseema Hafeez Panezai is favoring the idea of more women in politics and going out for asking votes from the public as general election candidates. However, she rejects any gender-related, religious, racial and sectarian biases among the comrades of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party. “In comparison to women, we have a very high proportion of male contestants in general elections and seats in all elected houses. We hope that the election commission will push political parties harder regarding the representation of women, and that the quota should be increased from 5 percent to 20 percent in order to promote women’s participation in politics. Women constitute over fifty percent of the population in Pakistan, and if is imperative for them to be empowered in order to represent a significant majority of the public,”  says Naseema.

Professor Rehman Achakzai head of the Sociology Department at the University of Balochistan is beginning to see an evolutionary shift in politics as the sign of women contesting elections in the province signals the beginning of women empowerment.

“Increased awareness is still needed, as we still have a long way to go before we reach gender equality in Pakistan as a whole, let alone Balochistan. We remain hopeful towards this goal, especially since a tribally cultured society is letting its women contest elections on general seats for the first time, and allowing them to go through the process of direct electioneering to parliament,” says Rahman.

“Rome was not built in a day,” he puts forward a quote, “Political parties have felt that without the representation of women and youth, their survival would be tough as these two groups make up over half of the population, their needs and their opinion must find a way in every sector of life including parliamentary elections,” he said.

“We have a culture in our society where women are considered lesser than men, which is never true, and this narrative needs to be de-framed. Even in marriages women are served food after the men eat,” Naseema, endorses how society is still lagging behind. “The political parties always awards tickets to those candidates who are winning, no party wishes to lose in election, so in a patriarchal society it will take time to bring women equal to men but we should remain steadfast and push for a more progressive culture where gender bias has no role.”

Balochistan was once noted for the highest maternal mortality rate, and if is considered to be far behind when it comes to modern standards of life in its scattered areas, which comprise half of Pakistan. Once the elected leader from the province defended honour killing as a cultural practice for the various tribes living in Balochistan. Majority of the girls are either out of school or do not have access to education as there are no schools in remote areas.

“Sardars and Nawabs would never bow down before the law and accept women’s status in  parliamentary politics, which has led to a mindset where people prefer not to vote for women. We need a complete refurbishment of this mindset, and a more transparent method that would let political parties elect their members based upon merit and give them an equal share in the general seats in national assembly, senate and provincial assembly as well as the local bodies election,” says Sana.

Yasmeen Lehri is a central figure of the women’s wing, National Party. She has been a vocal face representing women in politics from Balochistan who served as member of the provincial assembly from 2013 to 2018.

Yasmeen Lehri contesting for NA 265 and PB 32, both a national and a provincial seat, from the capital city, criticized political parties and their leaders who had a history of only serving their wives. She said, “The culture will slowly change. Representing women in the parliament is not an easy job. For this one needs to be a mature political worker.”

Lehri explained that political parties would allot seats on the basis of nepotism and the elected women were not representing the concerns of female constituents, they were simply filling the quota of seats reserved for women, which was merely an eyewash in reality. “Even though we [women] are not satisfied with a mere 5 percent quota for women, it is still a ray of hope for the next generations to struggle and gain their seats in the parliament through electioneering as contesting candidates, not on the basis of like and dislikes of the parties’ male leaders alone,” she said.

“Many of the political parties in Pakistan have only mentioned the women in their manifestos, when in reality the women’s wing is mostly nonexistent and that the elected women do not have a voice when it comes to intra party elections and party decisions,” Yasmeen Lehri explained.

Aliya Kakar, a social activist, remains hopeless even though the political parties have nominated female candidates for the general seats and reserved seats quotas. “Democracy is incomplete without female voters and electables, and yet they are sent to parliament without proper training and information regarding their rights and duties, which is why they can rarely discuss issues of importance. They are given pre-written speeches which pander to the agenda of male leaders. If  women in parliament try to violate the status quo and put their personal opinions forward, they are threatened with not being elected or selected for the second time.”

“We have a constrained democracy due to the relentless control within the political parties themselves. Unless our leaders, men in particular, decide to have a more accepting attitude and an open mind towards women in politics by giving them the independence to discuss women related issues openly, we will lag behind and never progress,” says Aliya.

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U.N. Provides Election Guide for Media

► “Media & Elections: A Guide for Electoral Practitioners” available ◄

By Amber Mubeen

Professor Amber Mubeen of the University of Central Punjab pointed us to the following United Nations guide on election coverage.

From the guide, which is titled “Media & Elections: A Guide for Electoral Practitioners“:

Credible and inclusive elections are based on a number of basic democratic principles. These are affirmed in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Key among these are the rights to freedom of speech, access to information and equality before the law. These principles mean that the electorate and political actors have the right to freely discuss political issues and public policies and to express opinions.

Voters and candidates rely heavily on access to the media to both impart and receive information. This requires an open and diverse media that can provide balanced and impartial coverage and equitable access for competing candidates and parties.

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ECP: Number of Registered Voters Increase

► Election rolls show 106 million people eligible to vote in upcoming elections ◄

By Tayyab Younas

In a new report, Dunya News breaks down the demographics of registered voters in Pakistan based on data from the nation’s election commission.

In May, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) published the final electoral rolls ahead of General Elections 2018.

According to the rolls, nearly 106 million voters will be able to cast their votes in the upcoming elections. Of these, 59.2 million are male and 46.7 million are female, with the gender gap between male and female rising to around 12.5 million. That makes 55.9 percent of the registered voters in Pakistan male, while only 44.1 percent are female.

The numbers are approximately 23 percent higher than the figures for the 2013 elections when the total number of voters stood at 86.2 million.

• More election coverage from Dunya News
• Follow journalist Tayyab Younas on Twitter

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Opinion Polling and Surveys: Best Practices

► “Man on the Street” can’t accurately reflect voter views ◄

By Reporting Elections

Journalists are often tempted to do quick, informal “man on the street” or “vox pop” surveys to supposedly “take the pulse” of the electorate. They are easy to do and provide colorful content for broadcast, print or the Web.

The problem is these kinds of stories rarely provide accurate information about how majorities of voters really feel — whether we are considering a particular constituency or the nation as a whole.  This is because “vox pop” style reports do not provide a sample representative of all voters. They are limited by place, time and circumstance.

In order to do a survey that truly represents the broad cross-section of voters, journalists must use time-tested techniques.

The information and guidelines that follow are from the 2017 Walter Cronkite School of Journalism–Media Foundation 360 workshops that were conducted in Lahore, Islamabad, and Karachi — as well as the subsequent Political Communication class taught at the Cronkite School in the fall of 2017.

Historically, the highest quality polling organizations in the world have been good at determining voter opinion and preferences at a given point in time, providing insights on what voters think about candidates and policies. In this regard, well-executed polls and surveys, that use widely accepted professional practices have been quite accurate.

(For a brief history of polls, check out this PBS story.)

How Sampling Works

A relatively small random sample of around 1,000 people can give a fairly accurate snapshot of what a larger, national population thinks. The larger the sample size, the lower the margin of error.  But beyond 1,000 the margin of error does not change drastically. That is why many national polls use a sample size of around 1,000 people.

For a sample to be truly representative of a larger population it has to be random — meaning the people in the sample were chosen randomly from a group that contains people with the characteristics of the larger population.  This is why a quick “man on the street” survey does not work.

Random sampling can be difficult in rural areas and where people do not have access to technologies like telephones or computers, but every effort should be made to get a truly randomized, representative sample.

Understanding Margin of Error

A margin of error of plus or minus 3 (+/- 3) is typical for a poll of around 1,000 people. That “plus or minus” is important – it essentially means any of the results can vary three percentage points in either direction.

So, a poll that shows Candidate Smith with 48 percent and Candidate Jones with 46 percent could mean that Candidate Smith’s “real” number could be as high as 51 or as low as 45, and Candidate Jones’s “real” number could be as high as 49 or as low as 43. A poll showing 48 to 46 could actually be 51 to 43.

On top of that, the margin of error for a candidate’s lead in a poll is even greater than the poll’s general margin of error. A good rule of thumb is that margin of error for a lead is twice that of the poll’s general margin of error. In a poll with a general margin of error of plus or minus 3 (+/- 3), a lead in which one could have confidence would be more than 6 percentage points.

Questions to Consider

Sheldon R. Gawiser, Ph.D., and G. Evans Witt, from the U.S. National Council on Public Polls have provided the following guide for journalists (and readers) when conducting your own poll or survey — or when evaluating polls or surveys that others have done.

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