The Role of Reserved Seats for Women’s Representation in Pakistan

Abstract

The local government system in Pakistan is examined in this paper. It looks at how women have been empowered by the Musharraf dictatorship and how their increased representation in legislatures has given them more clout. Women have always been underrepresented in politics due to the cultural mores and religious beliefs of prior nations. To empower and represent women, women should have thirty percent of parliamentary seats, in accordance with UN criteria. This significant increase was noted in Pakistan in the year 2000. Thirty-three percent of local assembly members and seventeen percent of seats in the province, the country, and the senate were assigned to women. Four thousand women were running for local body seats in the 2000–01 national elections. Approximately 55,000 women applied to run for municipal office in 2005. Pakistan's growing municipal sector has bolstered women's representation and empowerment.