Pakistan - PP-95 constituency ''Lower Dir'' - No woman Voters, no problem

How can the results of an election be deemed legitimate if half of the electorate is denied a right to vote? The question came back on the agenda as the polling record of the PP-95 constituency in Lower Dir became public. The fact that on Thursday the Jamaat-e-Islami won on a seat vacated by JI Ameer Sirajul Haq after a close contest with the Awami National Party candidate should be irrelevant. The fact that not one out of the 47,280 registered women voters in the constituency exercised her right to vote should be enough to invalidate this election farce in Lower Dir. In 2013, Lower Dir was part of three constituencies where written agreements were reported between all political parties barring women from voting. The last time this happened, the JI chief argued that women had been barred because suicide bombers could attack the polling booths disguised as women. This time around, Sirajul Haq produced another gem, arguing that women did not have the time to go out to vote since they are busy at home. The fact is that the Election Commission of Pakistan had given candidates and political parties a free hand to do as they wish. Elections with no women voters were validated by the ECP in 2002 and 2013, with only token statements from the ECP deemed to be enough.

But this is not enough. The ECP in its draft guidelines for the 2013 general elections had proposed that no election result should be accepted if there were less than 10 percent female voters. Why has this recommendation not been given the force of law? And even if it hasn’t, it is quite clear that the right of franchise of the women of Lower Dir has being denied them by one extra-constitutional mechanism or the other. The JI chief and ANP candidate have denied that an agreement was reached on barring women voters. However, the ANP filed a complaint with the ECP over the barring of women voters on Friday. The ECP has ordered all candidates to respond and explain why the situation arose. However, it also refused to take any action before the KP chief secretary and district returning officer of PK-95 explain what really happened. The ECP should instead have invalidated the election based on the simple fact that women did not – or more correctly were not allowed to – participate. The silence of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s ruling PTI government on the issue of women not being allowed to vote shows that the party remains committed to a patriarchal vision for Pakistan’s future. Civil society activists have rightly demanded a re-election. This sort of systematic disempowering of women is simply unacceptable. Re-polling is a must to so that women can exercise their right of vote in the constituency. Only drastic action can change this patriarchal status quo that has been maintained now for decades.