Press release

Elite capture has worsened political empowerment of marginalized groups

Islamabad, 21 November 2024. A conference organized by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) in partnership with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) has called for greater political empowerment and electoral participation for marginalized groups, including women, transgender persons, religious minorities and persons living with disabilities.

Introducing the conference, HRCP secretary-general Harris Khalique said that democracy could only thrive when every citizen had an equal opportunity to participate in the political process. FNF head Birgit Lamm said that citizens were aware of the importance of voting and committed to casting their vote.

Lawyer and researcher Mavra Ghaznavi said that the most common problem concerned access to polling stations for women in remote areas and for persons living with disabilities. For disability rights activist Zahid Abdullah, the fact that women with disabilities were sorely underrepresented as voters was cause for great concern.

Trans rights activist Nayyab Ali pointed out that discrimination against trans voters was still rampant because of the stigma attached to their gender identity and gender expression. Academic and activist Farzana Bari pointed to the increase in violence and politics affecting women, the working class, persons living with disabilities and trans persons disproportionately. Lawyer Mahmood Iftikhar Ahmad said that the creation of a separate electoral roll for the Ahmadiyya community had left them vulnerable because their personal data was accessible and used to target Ahmadiyya homes and businesses.

PML-N MNA Shaista Pervaiz Malik suggested making it easier for ordinary citizens to find their names on electoral rolls on polling day. PTI MNA Shandana Gulzar and JUI-F leader Asiya Nasir alleged that women voters and voters from religious minorities had faced threats of violence on polling day.

Elections specialist Tahir Mehdi pointed out that token measures—whether ramps for voters with disabilities or reserved seats for women—were not a long-term solution to addressing the political marginalization of vulnerable groups so long as democratic systems were subject to elite capture. Rights activist Romana Bashir suggested that political parties should initially implement quotas for candidates from religious minorities but empower them to the extent that such quotas should ultimately become unnecessary.

MQM-P MNA Kishwar Zehra said she had always supported the idea of reserved seats for persons living with disabilities, while PPP MNA Sehar Kamran pointed out that most women legislators still had a minimal role in high-level decision making.

NADRA deputy assistant director Abdul Haseeb assured participants that it was reviewing ways to increase voters’ access to national identity cards. ECP assistant director (gender) Amna Sardar said that it would commit to ensuring that voters’ polling stations were not changed randomly.

HRCP Council member Farhatullah Babar said creating awareness of the need for registration among voters was a peripheral problem. Instead, the ECP, NADRA and political parties must work to resolve structural issues around marginalized voters and candidates. Concluding the conference, HRCP vice-chair Islamabad Nasreen Azhar gave a vote of thanks.

Asad Iqbal Butt
Chairperson