By Muhammad Daud Khan
ISLAMABAD: An analysis of the final list of the candidates reveal that 172 women candidates are contesting elections for National Assembly and 386 for the four provincial assemblies’ seats. Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has uploaded on its website the status of contesting candidates in the general election 2018.
As per the Election Commission’s latest statistics, 16 women from Balochistan are contesting elections for National Assembly and 42 are for the provincial assembly. As compared to the women contestants, 287 male candidates are in the race on general seats for NA, as 943 other men are in the field for the provincial assembly. The number of male candidates is higher than the female contestants.
In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, including the erstwhile FATA, 35 female candidates are vying for NA seats, while 79 women candidates are in the run for the provincial assembly on the tickets of different political parties and as an independent candidates. On the other side, 725 male candidates are contesting for NA on general seats and 1,165 male candidates for the provincial assembly seats.
In Punjab and Islamabad, 73 female candidates have submitted nomination papers for NA, and 174 women are in the field for the provincial assembly. On the other hand, 1,623 men are contesting for the NA and 4,036 for the provincial assembly on general seats. The number of male candidates is much higher than the female candidates.
In Sindh, 48 female candidates are in the race for NA seats, while 91 women are contesting for the provincial assembly, as compared to the 824 men contesting for NA, as 2,252 men are in the run for the provincial assembly.
According to Pakistan Bureau of Statics (PBS), total population of the country is 207,774,520; women being 101,314,780 in number. It means percentage of women stands at 49, but only 172 women are in the run for National Assembly. As per statistics 2018, the elections are male-dominated. According to ECP statistics, 105,955,407 are the registered voters, of which 46,731,145 are women. The number of the female registered voters is all most similar as compared to male voters. As compared to male candidates, there are few female candidates contesting the general elections.
That’s very good women’s are taking part in the general election a great motivation for all other Women workers.