Jamaat-e-Islami Senator Prof Khurshid Ahmad fell singled out in the Upper House on Thursday, as treasury and opposition members, particularly women, unanimously passed the National Commission on the Status of Women Bill, 2012 without considering his demands for clarifications on some clauses.
The bill aims to improve women’s lives, ensure gender equality and promote their social, economic, political and legal rights as promised in the constitution.
Prof Khurshid was of the opinion that the bill needed further vetting and clarity on some specific points, such as the definition of women’s rights, and the criteria for appointing the commission’s chairperson. He asked the Senate chairman to refer the bill to the relevant committee for further fine-tuning, but other members wanted to pass the bill “as early as possible to give women their due status in the society”. Senator Humayun Khan Mandokhel believed that the Federal Legislative List does not contain the subject upon which the legislation was made. The National Assembly has already passed the bill. Under the bill, a National Commission on the Status of Women would be set up to review all laws affecting the status and rights of women. The commission would also suggest, repeal, amend or make new laws to eliminate discrimination against women and promote their interests to achieve gender equality.
According to the bill, the commission’s chairperson shall be a woman with at least 15 years of professional experience on women’s rights. The commission’s remaining members would include two from each province, of which at least one member shall be a woman, and one female member each from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Islamabad Capital Territory, and minorities.
Ex-officio members — representatives of the ministries of Law, Finance, Foreign Affairs, Interior and the ministry concerned with women’s rights with an official grade not below BPS-20 — shall not have the right to vote. A person shall not be appointed as a member unless he or she is 30 years of age with at least five years of working experience on women’s rights.
The bill says: “The prime minister shall, in consultation with the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, forward three names of each post to a parliamentary committee for hearing and confirmation of any person for each post; in case there is no consensus between the prime minister and leader of the opposition, each shall forward separate lists to the parliamentary committee.”
