Political parties, civil society organisations and media have agreed to form a provincial committee for coordinated efforts to enhance the registration of women voters in Punjab ahead of general election 2018. The consensus was developed at a consultation organised by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in collaboration with its member organisation PATTAN.
The committee will be mandated to take up the issue of registration of women for their computerised national identity cards (CNIC) with the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and their subsequent registration as voters with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
"As many as 6.5 million women are not registered as voters in Punjab. These women may also be not registered for their computerised national identity cards which is a legal prerequisite for voter registration," FAFEN Manager Communications and Advocacy Syed Abdul Ahad informed the consultation which was attended by representatives of all major political parties and civil society organisations. NADRA, however, did not send any representatives to the meeting.
The consultation also resolved that the government must ease the procedural formalities for the registration of CNIC and authorise local government chairmen and councillors for attestation of citizens' registration application forms. It also urged NADRA to expand its existing infrastructure to include more facilitation centres as well as mobile registration vans.
Ruling party MNA Shaista Pervez Malik told the consultation that getting CNICs for citizens is a cumbersome process and requires improvements. She also said that the ECP should pressurise NADRA to register as many citizens as possible before the upcoming general elections. Hussain Naqi, who represented the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), said that the existing NADRA infrastructure is inadequate to register 6.5 million women in Punjab. He proposed that the ECP should issue voter cards to citizens as is done in India.
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