April 3, 2024
Staff Report
LAHORE:
In the Senate election held on April 2, six women secured seats, with two from Punjab, two from Sindh, and two from Balochistan – raising the total number of women occupying Senate seats to 15.
The winners from Sindh included PPP’s Quratulain Marri, who secured 59 votes, and Rubina Qaimkhani, who received 58 votes, were elected on women’s seats. In Punjab, PML-N’s Anusha Rehman secured 125 votes, while Bushra Anjum Butt won 123 votes.
Dr. Yasmeen Rashid secured 106 votes, and Sanam Javed obtained 102 votes. However, these two SIC representatives were unable to secure a position in the Senate.
Last week, both the treasury and opposition parties in Balochistan reached an agreement on the allocation of the two seats designated for women. As a result, PML-N’s Rahat Jamali and PPP’s Hasna Bano were elected unopposed in the Balochistan assembly.
Though women have made gains in the senate elections, the upper house of the parliament still has a long way go to truly reflect the composition of population in represents. Glaringly, only one woman, the heavy weight Sherry Rehman, representing PPP, occupies a general seat in the Senate. The remaining of them occupy reserved seats for women.
Quratulain Marri
PPP’s Quratulain Marri got re-elected to Senate on April 2. She has been a member of the senate since March 2018. Marri is given credit for introducing pro-women bills – on mandatory daycare centres in institutions and maternal and paternal leave. She also proposed a constitutional amendment seeking to increase the minimum working age of children. She was a member of the provincial assembly of Sindh from June 2013 to May 2018. Also, she was a member of the National Assembly from 2002 to 2013.
Rubina Qaimkhani
She has served in the National Assembly on reserved seat from Sindh as a PPP candidate in 2002, 2008 and 2013. She has served as federal parliamentary secretary for human rights, minister for population welfare with the additional ministerial portfolios of women development, and special education. However, she was removed from the cabinet in 2015.
Anusha Rehman
An advocate and member of Central Working Committee of PML-N, Anusha Rehman was elected as a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan on a reserved seat for women. She was appointed as federal minister for information technology and telecommunication in the cabinet of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in 2018.
Bushra Anjum Butt
She became the member of the provincial assembly of Punjab in 2013, holding a reserved seat for the PML-N. She got re-elected on the reserved seat in 2018. She is former vice-president of Pakistan Business Forum, Lahore Chapter.
Rahat Jamali
She was a member of the provincial assembly of Balochistan as a PML-N candidate from June 2013 to May 2018. She won PB-26 Jaffarabad-II in general elecyions in 2013. In September 2017, she was appointed as provincial minister of Balochistan for Labour in the Nawab Sanaullah Khan Zehri’s government. She is the daughter of Usta Mohammad and Jan Mohammad Jamali.
Hasna Bano
She will be occupying the reserved seat for women in the Senate, representing PPP.
Charting the path ahead
Time will tell if these women senators will get the work done for the women they represent? Will they press for their rightful safety in public spaces, act to prevent sexual, physical and verbal abuse women counter, women’s salaries compatible with men, maternity as well as paternity leave, climate justice, and so many more items on the list of women’s demands in a country? In a country where even discussing the idea of granting equal rights to women is a relatively new and welcome development, their actions will be closely watched and scrutinised. They certainly have some work to do to catch up.