Chief of the Army Staff Gen Pervez Musharraf came to power on Oct. 12, 1999, and assumed the office of the Chief Executive. He envisioned a new political system in which power was to be devolved on the common man at grass-root level and women were to be made an equal partner in sharing of power with men. He launched a "Devolution of Power and Responsibility Plan" (briefly known as the Devolution Plan). We have made a detailed study of this Plan in chapter 5 of this book, our discussion here is restricted only to those parts of the Plan that deal with the sharing of women in national affairs and are related with the progress and development of the female population of the country.
Union Council is the basic unit of new District Government System. Under the Devolution. Plan, every Union Council shall be comprised of 21 members out of these 6 seats shall be reserved for women. Of these 6 seats 2 have been earmarked for kisan female members (women working as peasants or agriculture laborers). The quota shall not bar the women from contesting for the remaining 15 seats.
District Council is the highest institution of the District Government. Women have been given 33 per cent representation in the District Government. When we compare this percentage with the representative bodies in the rest of the world, this works out to be a very big ratio un-comparable in the world around.
Side by side with the sizeable female population in the local bodies, the government has also enhanced the quota of women in the legislative assemblies at provincial as well as at the federal level. After the constitutional amendment brought for this purpose, women representation in our legislative assemblies works out as under:
The Legislative Assembly | Women Seats under the 1973 Constitution | Present Position of the Women Seats |
National Assembly | 20 | 60 |
Punjab Assembly | 12 | 66 |
Sind Assembly | 5 | 29 |
KPK Assembly | 4 | 22 |
Baluchistan Assembly | 2 | 11 |
This quota does not bar the women to contest for general seats. It was envisaged that the district governments shall play a role basically social in nature, while the legislative assemblies are law making bodies. Law made by the assemblies have a wider range of influence. In addition to these statutory arrangements media has launched special programmes for women, these programems are creating in the women, a better understanding of the social problems and giving them a sense of participation. APWA, an organization working for the rights of women has been reorganized to work more effectively. This brief overview shows that a new revolution in the life of Pakistani women has set in, and prospects show that these changes will go a long way in improving the lot of Pakistani women, with reference to safeguarding their social and political rights on one side and ensuring their constructive participation in the task of nation building on the other.
