Tribal women come out in large numbers to vote

PESHAWAR: Women from Pakistan’s once militancy-hit tribal districts exercised their voting rights in large numbers on Wednesday.

Deputy Commissioner of Mohmand Tribal District, Wasif Saeed, told Arab News that women across the district approached polling stations from every nook and corner — something that was not seen in the 2013 general elections.
“In the 2013 polls, 7,121 women had cast votes across the then Mohmand Agency but this time the female voting is much higher,” he added.
Baizai subdivision in Mohmand district lies on the border with Afghanistan and female voting was next to nil in the past, but this time the number was much higher, said Assistant Commissioner Baizai Sher Alam.
“Most of the women in Baizai had not voted in the 2013 elections. But this time almost 80 percent of women cast their votes from the area,” the official added.
Sher Alam said that the merger of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and strong election campaigning of local candidate Abdur Rehman played an important role in pulling the women voters out.
Tauseef Khalid, assistant commissioner in Mohmand, said he visited Ekkaghund, Pindyali, Anbar and Prang Ghar subdivisions on election day and found all women polling stations were filled with voters.
“This time, the women turnout is unprecedented compared with the past,” he said.
Abdul Nasir Khan, returning officer for NA-48 in North Waziristan tribal district, also told Arab News that “women voters’ response was overwhelming today.”
“In 2013, the women voter turnout was 2.74 percent but it seems to be much higher in 2018,” said Abdul Nasir, who is also additional deputy commissioner of North Waziristan.
Regional Election Commissioner for tribal districts Inayatullah Wazir told Arab News that there were 1,884 polling stations in the tribal districts.
“These include 463 vote stations for men, 357 for women and 1,064 combined stations that have separate booths for both men and women,” he added.
He said the tribal districts have in total more than 2.5 million registered voters, including 10.02 million women voters.