Pakistan - Ban on women voting: PPP Human Rights Cell asks ECP to declare Dir by-election void

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PPP Human Rights Cell Central Coordinator Dr Nafisa Shah has joined in the voices of rights organisations in condemning the vote ban on women in PK 95 by election in Lower Dir.
She has called upon the Election Commission of Pakistan to declare the by election void in areas were it is established that women were deprived from voting.
“It has come to the knowledge of the PPP Human Rights Cell that women were forced to stay at home during election in PK95 inLower Dir by an informal ban on their voting, which is unacceptable. Depriving women of vote violates the universality of franchise, and violates the Constitution. It makes the entire election a farce.” Says Dr Nafisa Shah
“Women comprise 50 per cent of the voters and if their voice is suppressed in this manner, it is the responsibility of the Election Commission to ensure that those responsible for this bar are charged and punished. Further, the election can no more be valid as half the population has been left out of the voting process.”