Islam and Women Parliamentary Representation in Pakistan
There are various perspectives and interpretations regarding an interaction of religion and women's parliamentary Representation. In Pakistan,the religious debate started since its inception in 1947. The religious debates translated into objectives resolution and were adopted by the constituent assembly in 1949. Women parliamentary Representation remained a complex phenomenon due to the religiously dominated cultural sphere. However, the initiatives towards women's Representation started in the 1920spassed through different challenges and opportunities. The constitutions of Pakistan from 1956 to 1973 have also incorporated relevant sections regarding women's Representation. A significant issue merged in the 1990s in Pakistan when the constitutional mechanism regarding women's Representation lapsed. The global initiatives on women's political Representation were the major milestone that influenced Pakistan politics in 2000. During this period, gender-equal participation in the decision-making process was brought at the center of political debate. During the Musharraf regime, women parliamentary share increased up to 20percent on reserved seats. This paper is anattempt to explore women's Representation in Islamic perspectivesand their contributions to women. The result of this qualitativeresearch shows that women parliamentarians are primarilyrepresenting their own political parties and class in decision-making bodies
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Islam, Women, Representation, Parliament, Legislation, Pakistan
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(1) Saiqa Jabeen Shouket
M.Phil Scholar, Department of Islamic and Religious Studies, Hazara University-Mansehra, KP, Pakistan
(2) Muhammad Shakeel Ahmad
Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad, KP, Pakistan. Post-Doctoral Fellow, School of Politics and International Relations, The University of Nottingham, United Kingdom (UK).
Parliament not-Parliaments: Legislature of Pakistan in the Hatching (1947-69)
The evolution of parliamentary system in an ideological state, with two major units; miles apart on the globe, having multiple social and regional identities, and claiming being a federation has been a unique experience. After getting independence from the British, Pakistan decided to opt for a parliamentary form of government. The process was based on single house i.e. legislative assembly which was entrusted with dual responsibilities of framing the constitution and making legislation to run the state system. Initially, its membership was based on indirect elections through the elected representative on provincial basis in the elections of 1946 conducted by the British government. This system of indirect elections for national legislature was kept in practice till 1970 general elections after twenty three years of independence of Pakistan. First and second decades experienced multiple changes of electoral process and that of the practices of the floor of the constituent assembly. Apparently it is claimed that there had been major changes in the parliament of Pakistan with reference to the system of elections, and membership but certain practices seem consistent till date. The present study is an effort to analyse the early phase of the parliament which provided the basis for the parliamentary system of Pakistan.
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Parliament, Legislature, Democracy, Elections, Pakistan.
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(1) Rahat Zubair Malik
Associate Editor of Pakistan Journal of History and Culture and Research Fellow at NIHCR, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan