Politician Encourages Pakistani Women to Vote at Upcoming Local Elections

Women should cast their ballots at the upcoming election in Pakistan's northwestern province, despite circulating reports that the election will be man-only, Pakistani Daily Times newspaper reported Friday, citing head of the Tehreek-e-Insaf party Imran Khan.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the week, local media reported that elders and local authorities in conservative communities would prevent women from voting at the local elections that will take place on May 30 in the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Pakistani students arrive at the government college university in Lahore

© AFP 2023 / ARIF ALI

“All the women who are present here right now today I thank you and I tell you, go back and encourage other women to vote,” Imran said addressing a women rally.

On Thursday, the Election Commission of Pakistan said that breaching women's right to vote is unconstitutional and contradicts the spirit of Islam. The body told the government of the province to monitor the situation during the election and guarantee women the suffrage rights.

Pakistani women received the right to vote in 1947, when the country obtained sovereignty. Women's rights were jeopardized when the Taliban Islamist movement gained momentum on the border with Afghanistan in the early 2000s. The movement adheres to the Sharia law and is notorious for abuse of women.

As maternal mortality rates rise in the US, an American mother is now twice as likely to die in childbirth as a Saudi mother and three times as likely to die as a British mother. And women of color are at a much greater risk than white women.

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