LOWER DIR: In the elections on February 8, a record 123,039 women in the Lower Dir district exercised their right to vote, defying the long-standing custom of denying women the right to vote.
In contrast to previous practice, women took an active role in the electoral process, an official from the local election board office informed Dawn on Tuesday. According to the official, 123,039 out of 389,043 registered female voters cast ballots in the district’s five provincial assembly constituencies and two national assembly constituencies.
Political parties used to prevent women from using their right to vote in the district, and occasionally written agreements were made between parties prohibiting women from exercising this right.
Nonetheless, the political parties chose to allow women to vote after the electoral commission mandated that 10% of the population in each constituency be female.
27093 females voted in PK-14 at the elections that were place on February 8, according to official data. A total of 27,025 women cast ballots in PK-15.
21,051 females in PK-17 exercised their franchise rights.
In PK-18, 17,957 females voted in a similar manner.
Social activists and women’s rights advocates, such as Shad Begum, Ibrash Pasha, and Akbar Khan, expressed their gratitude to the Election Commission of Pakistan for guaranteeing women’s participation in polls and expressed joy over the growing involvement of women in the electoral process.
Speaking with Dawn, they declared that the days of forbidding women from participating in elections and decision-making processes were long gone. The activists expressed gratitude to the political leadership and local personnel of the ECP for encouraging and supporting women in exercising their fundamental right.
SOURCE: DAWN NEWS
