Daily Times

In a first, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will deploy transgender people to observe voting process as the nation goes to polls today (Wednesday).

For the purpose, the Lahore district and session judge has issued accreditation cards to members of the transgender community, a move aimed at bringing the community on a par with the rest of the society. The session judge has issued cards to 25 members of the community.

Transgender Sonia Naz said that for the first time the members of the community would be deployed as observers and they would perform this duty well.

It is pertinent to mention that the members of the transgender community are not only voting but also contesting in the July 25 polls. Five transgender candidates will take part in the polls.

At the onset of the election campaign, 13 transgender candidates filed their nomination papers for the contestable constituencies in both the national and provincial assemblies. But nine were forced to drop out due to lack of funds. Unlike women and religious minorities, transgender persons do not have any reserved seats in parliament or the provincial houses.

Former lawmaker, Ayesha Gulalai Wazir, who formed her own faction of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf political party, has fielded two of the four transgender candidates. The other three are running as independents. According to a survey, only 1,913 transgender citizens are registered in Pakistan to vote.

Published in Daily Times, July 25^th 2018.