Question 1: Process of formation of women Parliamentary Caucus

First woman speaker of National Assembly

She intends to pursue a gender agenda in the 13 th National Assembly
 a new initiative of creating women’s parliamentary caucus
 gender concerns through institutional structures
 address women issues through parliament
 communicate with women organizations – lobbying groups
 Help make gender sensitive policies and laws
 Connect with women parliamentarians across the globe
 Affirmative action (such as quota) exist

Caucus was a good idea as it covered group or committee

Less formal so can focus on specific issues which might otherwise be lost in
organizational red-tape
The issue was how this should be formed
Issues are Communication
Bureaucratic and Political, Administrative
Bureaucratic inertia in National Assembly Secretariat needs to be overcome
 Parliament works within well-define rules and traditions
 Women are already present in the parliament – have their committees -
can make their voice heard
 Status quo is good
 As per Rules of Business, any administrative intervention from the
Speaker NA in the affairs of Executive is not provided for
 Role of the Parliament is legislation and oversight
The inertia was overcome through communication –
 Standing committees have limited scope and not all women are
represented – it should be an all-inclusive group
o Generally, Ministry or issue specific
 Women caucus can raise the issue in a structural manner
o All formal and informal issues included
 In regional countries such as India, Speakers have been able to use the
residuary powers to establish parliamentary forums – hence no bar on
Speaker
 This forum will not infringe on the powers and scope of any Standing
Committee
Political Issues
 Representation from all political parties
 Internal rivalry between parties may affect
 Earlier also such an idea was floated which died
 Conservative vs. liberal divide
Hurdle: failed previous initiatives
Kotler said that communication is the key in bringing change
There was no bureaucratic hurdles – inertia
Unlearn and then learn
Composition: - equal sharing
 Administrative head of the caucus from the treasury
 Treasure from opposition

Question 2:
Quota:
Incentivize women – for a limited time – enable the disadvantaged group to
come at par – with the passage of time they would not need this assistance –
then we can let them compete and come on merit
Influence Landmark decisions
 Appointment of first woman member of Planning Commission of
Pakistan
 Establishment of Provincial Caucuses
 Restructuring on NCSW
 Establishment of Gender response unit in MoI
 Better facilities to woman police officers
 Independent woman police stations
 Mainstreaming of woman
At the same time women who joined parliament on reserved seats reinforce the
belief that women can only come to the power through their close relatives and
not on their own merit

Favourable outcomes:
Debate is at length
Effective legislation
Women’s input taken to account on various bills
Sense of inclusion
Gender mainstreaming
Mainstreaming of women issues
Confidence building – meeting acid victims -
More voice at grassroot level – effectiveness
As a result of the commitment of women parliamentarians, important steps have
been taken towards mainstreaming women in the political process and ensuring
their participation. The recently enacted Election Act 2017 gives the Election
Commission powers to declare polls void in a constituency if female voter
turnout is less than 10%. The Law also provides that political parties give at
least 5% tickets to women for general seats while the indirectly elected quota
for women in National Assembly (60) and Senate (17) continues. Gender
disaggregated ballots are to be recorded at all polling stations.

Women’s parliamentary caucuses

Bring women members of parliament from across party lines;
provide peer support to foster gender equality
collaborate pro-women legislative and policy agendas

can undertake a wide range of activities, including gathering data, conducting

research, creating partnerships with allies within and outside the parliament,
facilitating public discussions, raising awareness of key issues, promoting
civic education, and learning from experiences in other countries, among
others.

Question 4:
Collective thinking
Cross party affiliation
And their role in women rights and empowerment
Is it red tapism? Or political unwillingness.

Boils down to men who are at the helm of party affairs – men have overarching
influence – women would be partially stifled by the mindset of the men who are
leaders

It does not appear to be red-tapism. On a broader canvas there may be some

such issues that hinder formation of such caucuses.
It was the first time that such an initiative was taken – in this case there is no
red0tapism but on a broader canvas there may be some resistance
Government who created the caucus would take the credit for it as the PPP does
in case of BISP –
The effort is not trickling down at the grassroot level – hindrances in the
implementation