Daily Times

The election commission is said to have made it mandatory that a 10 percent women’s vote must be cast in every constituency; otherwise the election from that constituency will be invalid. To begin with, I want to welcome this decision. The newly appointed Election Commissioner has shown a sense of responsibility to the voters and this step, if implemented, would make democracy healthier.

Now let me analyse for my readers as to what it means in term of elections. The best turnout of voters who actually cast their votes is usually 40 percent of the registered voters. There is no hard and fast rule but the assumption is based on historical data. This percentage includes genuine and/or rigged casting of votes. If we take the number of 40 percent as the votes cast in the coming elections in a particular constituency of 200,000 registered voters, then the requirement of 10 percent of the registered women’s vote to be cast would actually mean that there would be 20,000 women’s votes in the ballot boxes. Let me explain. Take an example that in constituency X the number of registered voters is 200,000. The numerical 10 percent of this number will be 20,000 votes. Now if 40 percent votes are cast, the number of total votes cast will be 80,000. If in these votes cast is included the 20,000 women’s votes, the actual percentage of the women’s votes in the total votes cast will be 25 percent, simply because 20,000 is 25 percent of 80,000.

If this principle is strictly followed, any candidate elected to the assembly will have an approximate support of 25 percent female voters, otherwise the election will be null and void. This decision of the Election Commission adds a measure of credibility to our ‘sham’ democracy plagued with all kinds of rigging. This decision of the Election Commission ensures that about 25 percent of the women, who have equal rights according to the constitution as well as the holy book, have been heard in the election process.

However, although I appreciate the decision, I wonder why the Election Commission could not make women’s voting compulsory in the proportion that is registered in the constituency. In case a constituency has 35 percent of registered voters as women, why could this percentage not be the proportion to validate the election in that constituency? Maybe I am expecting too much for starters, although such a decision would have been fair and the independence of the Election Commission against the pressures of vested interests would have been established beyond doubt.

My experience is that mostly it is the so-called ‘rightist’ element that lacks faith in the power of decision making by women. It is generally the rightist element that is infected with the curse of male chauvinism and considers itself superior to women in intellect as well as physique. History has proved both these assumptions wrong. Women are capable of greater physical endurance then men and have proved to be intellectually competent in many fields of life.

I am not here to establish the superiority of one over the other, but to consider women inferior in general is almost criminal. Therefore, if democracy of sorts is to be practised in Pakistan, many kinds of revolutions need to take place and one of these is to recognise equal status for women in the electoral process.

I understand that some political parties resisted the decision of the election commission and they are still against it. I would like to comment on their attitude briefly. On the surface, there seems no reason to be against the decision of the Election Commission, but the seekers of political power have their own preferences. The political parties on the ‘right’ are generally composed of people who are sceptical about women being equal to men! In their domestic behaviour, most of these people prefer their women to be subservient. This attitude is common with landlords, and they dominate the political horizon. The general attitude of the right and male-dominated society is to keep women suppressed and not to let them have power or a sense of equality. If women vote, then such politicians fear that their vote will be cast in favour of more enlightened candidates who understand the correct social status of women. Therefore the women’s vote is not welcome for them. If the history of the polling booths being disturbed is analysed, it will be quite evident that the usual target is female polling booths. The idea behind attacks is to scare them away, particularly so in constituencies where contests are close. I have personal experience of trying to salvage women voters and candidates’ representatives in the only election of local governments allowed by the tyrant Ziaul Haq. I had to rescue women holed up in a polling station in Model Town, Lahore, and surrounded by belligerent, gun-toting youth of a religio-political party.

The recognition of the women’s vote and ensuring its casting to validate the election in a constituency will have a restraining effect against strong-arm tactics and will force the candidates to respect the views of the female population. However, I believe that the beginning is smaller than desirable. At least 15 percent of the vote cast would have been a good beginning. Anyway, I hope that the Election Commission holds its own and does not succumb to the pressure of some parties.

The writer is a former DG Pakistan National Council of the Arts, Secretary Arts Council Alhamra, COO of ICTV US, Chairperson Fruit Processing Industries, Chairperson Export Promotion Committee, head of several business delegations to European countries, specialist in arts management and cultural diplomacy. He is an expert callishtenist, dramatist, researcher, and the author of 8,000 years of the People of Indus Valley. Presently, he is the Central Vice- President APML and General Secretary, Punjab APML