The missing 806,820 women voters of former FATA
The tribal areas of Pakistan, situated along the frontier of the Pak-Afghan border, have for centuries been governed by a draconian administrative and legal system built on patronage and tribal custom. Democratic norms, fundamental rights and due process of law are unknown to this land marred by violent extremism and, on account of State neglect, underdevelopment.
The women of the erstwhile FATA have been the primary victims of conservative and patriarchal tribal norms that are often invoked to mandate and justify cruel and violent practices such as swara/ badala-i-sulh (‘exchange’ of women to settle feuds) and honor killing. The female literacy rate here stands at a shocking 12.7% and 79% girls drop out from school during the early years of their education (EMIS Report, 2018). Through jirga decisions and informal pacts between influential men, the women of FATA have been kept away from public life.
The 25th Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, which merged FATA with the province of Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa (KPK), brought the region within the fold of the national political and legal structure and granted it direct representation in the provincial legislature. It was largely hailed as a milestone that would usher in a new era of change and progress.
Last weekend, 2.8 million people in the merged tribal regions were expected to vote for representation in the provincial Assembly of KPK for the very first time; 1.13 million of them were to be women.
285 candidates contested the election for the 16 general seats in the KPK Assembly, two of whom were women. Naheed Afridi from the Awami National Party contested on the general seat from Khyber District. The Jamat-e-Islami fielded Malsala Bibi for the general seat in Khurram district.
Even before the election, Naheed Afridi was being viewed as a bit of a trailblazer. She reportedly campaigned to “[break]the chains [for women] ... [so that] there will be more women after me taking part in elections in the tribal areas. This is the first step of change.”
The elections could, arguably, have been an opportunity for the million or so registered female voters in former FATA to come out in numbers and vote for change; for inclusion and representation; for an end to patriarchal practices. But only 28.6% of the registered female voters participated in the elections – much lower than the average female voter turnout of 46.64% in the general elections of 2018.
Ironically, of the 65,652 registered female voters in Naheed Afridi’s constituency in Khyber district only 8,480 cast their vote. In certain parts of Khyber district, local elders reportedly decided to keep women away from polling stations. It may be no surprise that neither of the two female candidates were able to secure a win in the elections.
The elections could, arguably, have been an opportunity for the million or so registered female voters in former FATA to come out in numbers and vote for change; for inclusion and representation; for an end to patriarchal practices.
Sahar Zareen Bandial
Women’s political participation and the female voter turnout have historically been low in this region. Pacts between influential men/elders preventing “their” women from partaking in the electoral process through the exercise of their vote have been common practice in previous national elections here.
The Election Act, 2017 sought to stem this practice by criminalizing the act of prohibiting a woman from voting in or contesting an election, mandating that political parties field female candidates in at least 5% of general seats and prescribing a minimum 10% female voter turnout for a valid election.
This legislation may not have been entirely successful in ensuring against prohibitive and exclusionary pacts, but it has ensured compliance with the minimum threshold of 10% female turnout. The nullification of election results in Shangla and North Waziristan in the general election of 2018, on account of low female voter turnout, served as an unforgettable lesson for politicos in the region who ensured that the 10% threshold was met in the recent elections.
It is likely that a large proportion of the 28.6% of the registered female voters may have voted in this election under pressure for such compliance.
If the newly introduced electoral process is to carry any legitimacy, it is important to question, where the remaining 806,820 female voters were in these elections, and whether the female votes that were cast, represent free and independent political consciousness and choice.
The Election Commission of Pakistan undertook painstaking efforts to register female voters in the erstwhile FATA, and taking account of the strict gender-segregation culture in the region, ensured a sufficient number of female only polling stations and female polling staff.
Yet, the female voter turnout was not much different from earlier elections here. The regions’s conservative and patriarchal social cultural milieu is the real impediment to the political participation of women.
The State must make a firm long-term commitment to improving female and general literacy in the region, engaging with conservative elements to press the importance and permissibility of women’s participation in politics and direct outreach to the female electorate, that may largely feel disconnected from politics. This is the real solution for the ‘missing female voters’ in the ex-FATA region.
