In the upcoming general elections, 275 women from various political parties will be contesting on the general seats. “111 political parties have nominated 275 women candidates to contest the upcoming elections on general seats, making up for 4.6 percent of the total of 6,037 candidates they have fielded”, Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) said in a statement.
According to Section 206 of the Elections Act, 2017 (Selection for Elective Offices), each political party is required to ensure at least five percent representation of women candidates while selecting candidates for general seats for elective offices, including membership of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) and Provincial Assemblies, through a transparent and democratic procedure.
FAFEN analysis is based on the List of Contesting Candidates (Form-33) for National and Provincial Assemblies. Out of 111 political parties, 30 parties have fielded five or more than five percent women on general seats, while four political parties have fielded between 4.50 and 4.99 percent of women candidates on general seats (that is statistically rounded-up to five percent).—APP
