As the 13th National Assembly is completing its fourth parliamentary year on Friday (tomorrow), women legislators continued to perform impressively, asserting themselves in their lawmaking and oversight roles.
The 40th and last session of the 4th parliamentary year which started on Wednesday will continue until March 16. President Asif Ali Zardari will address the joint session of the parliament on March 17, with which the Lower House would enter into the fifth parliamentary year. Women constitute less than one-quarter (23 percent) of the National Assembly’s current members – 60 elected on reserved seats and 17 through popular vote. However, they were effective voices of constituents as compared to their male counterparts in the Lower House, which is headed by the country’s first woman speaker.
Overall, women parliamentarians have been active in introducing legislation – single female members authoring 20 of the 53 Private Members’ bills that appeared on the Orders of the Day in the fourth parliamentary year. Of the Private Members’ Bills moved by women parliamentarians, 14 were introduced in the House, five not taken up while two were passed, said a Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) report.
It said the female parliamentarians contributed exceptionally to oversight of executive by putting up questions. Of 2,365 questions raised during the fourth parliamentary year, more than half (1,196 or 51 percent) were put forward by female members. On average, 16 questions were submitted by each female MNA, almost four times more than their male counterparts who raised 1,169 questions.
Women legislators were part of 75 of the total 97 Calling Attention Notices either individually or jointly with their male and female colleagues. A closer look at the Calling Attention Notices shows that women parliamentarians are bringing to the floor of the House issues directly affecting the lives of the people. They raised such critical issues as the energy crisis, increase in power tariff, dilapidated condition of national highways, violence against women, draft electoral list, disaster management and increase in prices of petroleum products.
Of the 1,764 Points of Order raised in the House, the women parliamentarians’ share was 252 or 14 percent. The female legislators representing PPP raised almost half (121) Points of Orders, followed by PML-N and ANP (44 each), PML-Q (24), MQM (13) and MMA (six). Female representatives moved 42 resolutions, either independently or jointly with other female or male colleagues, while their male counterparts sponsored 19.
Twenty-five of the resolutions were moved by single female members, three were sponsored by multiple female members and 14 jointly sponsored by male and female members. Eighteen resolutions were raised by single male members while one was sponsored by more than one male member, said the report.
