A bill to amend the Constitution has been presented in the National Assembly seeking to abolish 192 reserved seats for women in the National Assembly and provincial assemblies.
The constitutional amendment bill was introduced by opposition member Aslam Ghuman. The proposed legislation seeks amendments to Articles 51 and 106 of the Constitution, which deal with reserved seats for women in the National Assembly and provincial assemblies.
Under Article 51 of the Constitution, 60 seats are currently reserved for women in the National Assembly. These include four seats for Balochistan, 10 for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 32 for Punjab and 14 for Sindh.
Regarding reserved seats for women in the National Assembly, the proposed amendment to Article 51 states that, for the purpose of reserved seats, each province along with the federal government should be divided into constituencies. Members on these seats would be elected through direct and free votes of the constituencies in accordance with the law.
The bill also proposes amendments to Article 106 of the Constitution related to reserved seats for women in provincial assemblies. Under the existing provisions of Article 106, 11 seats are reserved for women in the Balochistan Assembly, 66 in the Punjab Assembly, 26 in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and 29 in the Sindh Assembly.
According to the proposed amendment to Article 106, each province will be allocated constituencies equal to the number determined under clause (1), and direct elections will be held on seats reserved for women in each province in accordance with the law.
The bill has been presented for consideration in the National Assembly.