The recent discovery that political parties had barred women in Lower Dir from voting has turned out to not be an isolated incident. Another agreement has now surfaced, showing that political parties in Upper Dir also mutually agreed to effectively disenfranchise female voters in the region. The document carries signatures by representatives of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Awami National Party (ANP) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). The document authorises Malik Jehanzib Kalorang and Malik Faiz Muhamamd Khan of Dogram to take a decision about women voting on Upper Dir’s PK-93 provincial assembly seat. The decision would be binding on all the candidates contesting in the constituency and those ‘in violation’ would be fined Rs 10 million. JI candidate Behram Khan won the PK-93 seat in the May 11 poll by gaining 12,894 votes, while Sahibzada Sanaullah of the PPP returned as the runner-up with 9,500 votes. Earlier, a similar agreement had surfaced from Lower Dir’s PK-95 seat where JI candidate Sirajul Haq returned as the winner. Haq is slated to get a ministerial portfolio in a likely deal with the PTI, the leading party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
