Pakistan’s election regulator asks political parties to ensure 5 percent representation of women candidates

Commuters move past the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) flags hung over a street in Karachi on January 12, 2024, ahead of the upcoming general elections. (AFP)

• Section 2016 of Pakistan’s Elections Act 2017 requires all parties to ensure five percent of women candidates on general seats
• Millions of Pakistanis are expected to turn to the ballot box on February 8 to election their representatives for the next five years

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s election regulator on Sunday asked political parties to submit their lists of nominated male and female candidates for the upcoming polls, reminding them that they are required by law to ensure at least five percent of their candidates on general seats are women.
Section 206 of Pakistan’s Elections Act 2017 states that political parties would adopt a “transparent and democratic” procedure to select their list of male and female candidates for elective offices.
The section also states that the parties, while making the selection of candidates for general seats, shall ensure at least five percent representation of women candidates.
“The political parties, having been allocated election symbols for general election 2024, are mandatorily required to ensure 05 percent representation of women candidates on general seats,” the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said in a press release.
“All political parties concerned are, therefore, requested to submit the list of male/female candidates on general seats (to whom party tickets have been issued) to ECP within 5 days of this press release.”
The ECP’s deadline to file nominations expired on Dec. 24, with 28,626 candidates submitting their nominations for national and provincial assembly elections.
A caretaker administration under interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar is running the country until the national election is held on Feb. 8.
The South Asian country has been confronted with several challenges as it heads to the polls, the foremost being a spike in militant attacks in several parts of the country since last year, and a macroeconomic crisis that has weakened its currency, inflated its debt, and triggered inflation.
Political analysts fear an election that is not free, fair, or transparent, would make it difficult for the incoming administration to solve the pressing issues of the country.