Pakistan Review News and Reviews

Women and Election 2002

The efforts of the present government regarding maximum participation of women in all spheres of national life is yielding beneficial results as immense enthusiasm prevails among women for contesting general elections. Besides other avenues of nation building, they have shown keen interest in politics.

Family politics:

In the upcoming general election the requirement of Graduation leads to some changes in the political scenario. In what appeared to prolong their political influence, many traditional electoral candidates are foisting their wives and daughters as their successors in the forthcoming elections. The traditional families' dominance is likely to prevail in this mode as nominating women to represent them; the families remain in the political orbit.

Here is the list of some women which are in field on the behalf of their families.

Miss Marvi daughter of former provincial minister Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq is in the filed on PS-74 Dadu-IV on behalf of PPPP.

Mrs. Husna Rahu daughter of late Muhammed Fazil Rahu and sister of former provincial minister Muhammed Ismail Rahu is in the running,

Dr. Khalida Sikandar Mhandero w/o of former provincial minister Sikandar Mhandero is contesting elections on a ticket from the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian

Mrs. Adeeba Gul Waqqar is the daughter of Raees Allah Bakhsh Magsi, district President, Pakistan Muslim League (N) and she is contesting elections on the PML(N) ticket. She is also the candidate for PS-52 Hyderabad-XI

Shamshad Sattar Bachani is the wife of Ex-MNA Abdul Sattar Bachani and she is in electioneering on the ticket of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians.

Miss Marvi d/o of former provincial minister Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq is in the filed on PS-74 Dadu-IV on behalf of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian.

Rubina Shaheen, daughter of former Punjab Chief Minister Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo is in field from PP-193.

Faryal Talpur, sister of Asif Zardari had to file forms in last general elections from Nawabshah but this time round it is not her but her sister Fouzia Zardari who will be in the running, contesting on the PPPP ticket. She says she had to file the papers on instructions of her father Hakim Ali Zardari.

Zulfikar Mirza, former MNA from Badin, paved way for his wife Dr. Fehmida Mirza as he was facing corruption charges, but her nomination papers too have been rejected.

Abdul Sattar Bachani of Tando Allah Yar District Hyderabad has given the name of his wife to his party as the candidate in his place if the graduation condition prevails.

Women facing tough competition:

There are some very interesting and tough competitions at some seats where women are also candidates.

In Karachi, Muttahedda's Nasreen Jalil is contesting NA polls on a seat where a tough competition is expected as other parties have fielded strong male candidates for the seat from this constituency, they are PPP's Ikhtiar Beg, PML-N's Mamnoon Hussain, who has also been the former Governor of Sindh; JI's Abdul Sattar Afghani, who is also the former Mayor of Karachi; and PML-Q's Wajid Jawad, who is equally potential.

In Balochistan, Mrs Ashraf Abbasi is fighting on the PML (N) ticket for the NA seat, which in view of Balochsitan's 'suffocating' set-up indicates a positive change.

PML-Q's Neelofer Bakhtiar is also contesting polls from a very tough constituency in Rawalpindi. She is pitted against PML (N) Senior Vice Presient Syed Zafar Ali Shah and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.

In Peshawar District, NA-1, Rabia Mufti Advocate of Pak Watan Party is pitted against as many as six candidates. They are Khurshid Khan advocate (a PPP dissident), Usman Bilour (ANP), Muhammad Muazam Butt (PML-QA), Shabir Ahmad Khan (MMA), Sajid Abdullah (PTI).

In NA-221 Hyderabad-IV, Ms. Badarun Nisa is contesting election with 12 other male candidates. Badarun Nisa was elected as woman representative in Zila Council Hyderabad from Qasimabad during the local government elections and now she has decided to contest for the National Assembly on a general seat.

Interestingly enough the situation prevailing in NA-223 Hyderabad-VI, is that three women representing the leading political parties are contesting the elections on a general seat. Shamshad Sattar Bachani is the wife of Ex-MNA Abdul Sattar Bachani and she is in electioneering on the ticket of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians. Mrs. Adeeba Gul Waqqar is the daughter of Raees Allah Bakhsh Magsi, district President, Pakistan Muslim League (N) and she is contesting elections on the PML(N) ticket. She is also the candidate for PS-52 Hyderabad-XI. The third candidate Sameena Arif is in the field of contest from this constituency on behalf of Mutehada Qaumi Movement Pakistan.

On PS-58 Badin-IV, Dr. Khalida Sikandar Mhandero w/o of former provincial minister Sikandar Mhandero is contesting elections on a ticket from the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian while Mrs. Tauqeer Sakina and Mrs. Aisha Khan are her opponents from the same constituency as independent candidates.

The other names that seem to attract attention are:

In Punjab, Begum Abida Hussain and Syed Fakhr Imam are contesting on one and two NA seats respectively. They have also got their daughter tickets for two provincial seats.

Tehmina Dultana on the ticket of ML (N)

In Thatta district, Ms. Ghulam Fatima Palijo is contesting elections for NA-237 Thatta-I and Ps-84 Thatta-I as an independent candidate.

Another woman candidate Kausar Jokhio is electioneering from PS-84 Thatta-I and PS-85 Thatta-II.

At PS-85 Thatta - II Mrs. Sassui Palijo of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian and Mrs. Zarina Akhtar are also in the field.

On PS- 86 Thatta-III, Miss Rehana Laghari is contesting the election on behalf of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian.

Ms. Ghulam Fatima from Thatta; Kausar Jokhio also from Thatta.

Mrs. Sassui Palijo of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian and Mrs. Zarina and Miss Rehana Laghari are all from Thatta and the latter two are aslo PPPP candidates.

There are five women among the long list of candidates who have filed their nomination papers for contesting National and Punjab Assembly elections being held on October 10 from Rawalpindi.

PML (QA) nominate Neelofar Bakhtiar, as the candidate from NA -56 Rawalpindi cantonment.

Brig (Retd) Nusrat Jehan of Tameer-i-Pakistan party (TPP) is the candidate on a general seat in Rawalpindi district.

Besides the above Begum Tahmina Sajjad PML(QA) is a candidate from PP-13 while Samina Fazal of TPP is contesting from PP-14.

Mrs. Sarkar Abass, Advocate and Councillor District Council, Rawalpindi is a candidate for the Punjab Assembly constituency in Rawalpindi.

In Punjab, PML(Q) women candidates from Attock, Jhang, Gujrajanwala, Toba Tek Singh, Mandi Bahauddin , Jhang, Vehari, and Dera Ghazi Khan will also be paticipating in the upcoming elections. These are male-dominated strongholds with traditions that do not encourage women participation in the business of politics.

In Lahore, Begum Shamim Khan of PTA is pitted against Jehangir Badar of PP from PP-141.

Salma Naeem of PTI is fighting from PP-154, Yasmin Saeed from PP-140; Begum Rehana Jamil of PML-N from PP-145.

In DG Khan, Shamoona Ambreeen Qaiserani is contesting on PP-240.

Dr. Rakhshanda Mughees is contesting elections from PS-46 Hyderabad-IV as an independent candidate, while Saira Naseer and Shamim Fatima are in contesting from PS-48 Hyderabad- VI.

Mrs. Kausar Zahid is contesting election from PS-49 Hyderabad-VII on behalf of Pakistan Awami Tehreek while in the same constituency, Sajida Sultana is contesting the election on the Sunni Tehreek ticket and Sajida Baloch is taking on the electioneering process from the same constituency as an independent candidate.

Mrs. Huma Abbas alias Nawab is contesting from PS-50 Hyderabad-IX on behalf of Pakistan Muslim League(Q). It may be mentioned here that Mrs. Huma Abbas had contested in the 1997 general election against PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto from National Assembly seat of Tando Allahyar NA-170-V, but now she is participating from NA-223 Hyderabad-VI.

Another candidate Nayyar Sultana is contesting elections from PS-53 Hyderabad-X as an independent candidate.

From Badin district, Ms. Tasleem Nabi is in electioneering process on behalf of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and Sindh National Front. In 1997 general elections, Dr. Fahmida Mirza had previously been elected the member of National Assembly securing 26,737 votes from this constituency. She was all geared to contest election on PS-59 Badin-V, where Mrs. Husna Rahu d/o of late Muhammed Fazil Rahu and sister of former provincial minister Muhammed Ismail Rahu is also in the running, until Fehmida's papers were rejected last week.

Nabila Shah and Dr. Farhana Aftab are contesting the election on PS-57 Badin-III as independent candidates.

On PS-76 Dadu-VI, Ms. Fahmida Jawanri is contesting from the platform of Pakistan Muslim League (F).

In Thatta district, Ms. Ghulam Fatima Palijo is contesting elections for NA-237 Thatta-I and Ps-84 Thatta-I as an independent candidate.

Another woman candidate Kausar Jokhio is electioneering from PS-84 Thatta-I and PS-85 Thatta-II. At PS-85 Thatta - II Mrs. Sassui Palijo of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian and Mrs. Zarina Akhtar are also in the field.

On PS- 86 Thatta-III, Miss Rehana Laghari is contesting the election on behalf of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian.

Main factors behind the increased participation of women in the electoral process are different steps taken by the government and awareness campaigns launched by the non-governmental organizations leading to the change in the conventional thinking of the masses in general and leaders in particular