Professional Documents
Culture Documents
November 21, 2008
1. The first formal meeting of the Women Parliamentarians of the 12th National Assembly was held
at Committee No. 2 of the Parliament House, with an aim to launch the “Women Parliamentary
Caucus”.
2. The meeting was chaired by the Speaker National Assembly, Dr. Fehmida Mirza.
3. 25 Members attended the meeting. List of attendance is attached as Annex‐B.
4. The Meeting began with the recitation from the Holy Quran by Ms. Shakeela Khanum Rasheed.
5. The Speaker thanked the Members for making it convenient to attend the meeting at a short
notice.
6. The Speaker referred to the earlier meeting of the women parliamentarians, held on October
20, 2008 and attended by some 58 women MNAs. It was in the said meeting that through a
consensus, the women parliamentarians had approved the Speaker’s proposal of forming a
Women’s Parliamentary Caucus. The Speaker informed that in light of the decisions taken in the
said meeting, the proposal of the WPC was given proper shape and was being formally launched
today.
7. The Speaker also referred to the briefing on the Commission on the Status of Women, which
was held in the aforesaid meeting and reminded the Parliamentarians to send their suggestions
on empowering the Commission.
8. The Speaker appraised the fact that the present National Assembly has a large number of
women representation, which must be translated into effective and efficient presence of
women in the Assembly.
9. The meeting, through a unanimous vote, elected the Speaker National Assembly as its patron
for the life of the 12th National Assembly.
10. The Speaker laid down before the House the “Objectives” and the draft for the “Rules of
Business of the WPC.” With the permission of the Chair, Dr. Azra Pacheho read out the seven
Objectives of the proposed Caucus.
11. Justice Fakhrunisa Khokhar proposed an amendment of inserting the wording “‐‐‐ uplift of –“ in
the Clause 1 of the Objectives.
12. Bushra Gohar objected to the Clause 7 of the Objectives. In her opinion, as per the women rights
activists, the Millennium Development Goals had marginalized the women’s rights issues taken
up by the Beijing Declaration.
13. Dr. Attia Inayatullah suggested the insertion of “national”” before “policies and programmes” in
Clause No. 3.
14. Dr. Atiya inayatullah proposed the wording of “, particularly social discriminatory practices”
before “different levels”.
15. Bushra Gohar opined that clause 7 seemed redundant in presence of Clause 3. However, the
House differed.
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16. Justice Fakhrunnisa Khokhar proposed amending “rights” with “empowerment” in Clause 5. Ms.
Tehmeena Daultana seconded her opinion. After heated debate, it was suggested that the
clause be reworded as “women’s rights, empowerment and gender equality”.
17. The Objectives, with amendments, were then adopted by the House.
18. Ms. Nuzhat Sadiq lauded the launching of the Caucus and termed it a milestone in the history of
the Parliament.
19. Ms. Yasmeen Rehman thanked the Speaker for taking the initiative of Women Parliamentary
Caucus and assured her of her complete support.
20. Begum Ishrat Ashraf enforced the ideals of the Speaker, regarding women empowerment and
vowed to work for the Caucus beyond and above party affiliations.
21. Farah Naz Isphahani termed the WPC’s launch as a major breakthrough for the women of
Pakistan.
22. Bushra Gohar, while echoing the sentiments of other members, termed the formation of the
Caucus as a befitting tribute to the memory of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, who was the
first to float the idea of a Women Parliamentary Caucus.
23. As for the language of the Rules of Business, Bushra Gohar opined that instead of “lady Speaker”
should be replaced with “Speaker”, “lady” by “woman”, “Chairman” as “Chairperson”, “Deputy
Chairman” as “Deputy Chairperson”, and “female” as “woman”. The suggestion was carried
unanimously by the House.
24. Justice Fakrunissa Khokhar proposed redrafting sub‐clause d, clause 2 as “The meeting of the
General Assembly shall be one fourth of the total membership for the purpose of quorum”.
25. The Speaker opined that instead of “once every session”, the sub clause g of Clause 2 should
read “once a month”. Tehmina Daultana differed and insisted on “each session”. Dr. Attiya
Inayat Ullah seconded her. It was thus agreed to keep it for “every session”.
26. The Speaker sought the suggestion of the House about the amount and mode of payment for
membership.
27. While members gave their suggestions, ranging from Rs. 500 to Rs.1000/‐, Dr. Atiya Inayatullah
proposed to raise the amount to Rs.2000/‐ with the provision that a matching amount should be
contributed from the National Assembly Budget. She also sought the Chair’s guidance regarding
the legality of the Caucus and asked if it would be legalized through a resolution.
28. The Speaker informed that in view of the freeze placed on the Expenditure of the National
Assembly, the Assembly would not be in a position to contribute to the Caucus funds.
29. Dr. Atiya Inayatullah appreciated the Speaker’s efforts to control the National Assembly’s
expenditures and suggested that the Speaker should liaise with the Senate, enabling the Upper
House to control its budget as well.
30. The House decided on the following mode of funding for the Caucus:
a. Membership fee: Rs.500/‐ (one time on registration as Member)
b. Monthly fee: Rs.1000/‐ to be paid, preferably on annual basis or maximum on
quarterly basis
c. Donations
d. Programme Funding
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31. It was also decided that if at any point of time, any Member of the Caucus fails to pay her dues
for two consecutive quarters, her membership would be suspended, which will only be
reinstated after re‐registration as fresh Member.
32. The Speaker announced that Malik Mehrunnisa Afridi MNA had donated Rs.50,000/‐ for the
Caucus while the Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr. Babar Awan had donated
Rs.100,000/‐.
33. Speaker announced a donation of Rs.100,000/‐ for the Caucus on her behalf. Begum Ishrat
Ashraf also announced a donation of Rs.100,000/‐.
34. Bushra Gohar and Nuzhat Sadiq announced a donation of Rs.50,000/‐ each while Ms. Tasneem
Siddiqui , Dr. Azra Fazal Pacheho and Nafisa Shah announced a donation of Rs.25,000/‐ each.
35. Justice Fakhrunnisa Khokar suggested the creation of the mailing address and web site of the
Caucus. It was agreed by the House.
36. Over the issue of the possibilities of giving membership to Men parliamentarians, there existed a
wide range of difference of opinion. While an overwhelming majority voiced strongly against the
concept of Men Members, it was decided by a majority vote that membership may not be
offered to Men Parliamentarians for the time being.
37. Nafisa Shah was appointed as the Secretary of the Caucus while the following were announced
as the Members of the Working Council:
i. PPP 1 Dr. Azra Pacheho
ii. PML(N) 1 Begum Ishrat Ashraf
iii. PML (Q) 1 Dr. Doniya Aziz
iv. MQM 1 Khushbakht Shujaat
v. ANP 1 Bushra Gohar
vi. MMA 1 Aasia Nasir
vii. PML(F) 1 Reena Kumari
viii. Independent 1 Saima Akhtar Bharwana
38. Dr. Atiya Inayatullah proposed that at least thrice in a week during the session of the National
Assembly, Call Attention Notice pertaining to women issues be accepted.
39. Nafisa Shah, Secretary of the Caucus thanked the Chair and the participants of the meeting for
nominating her as the Secretary and pledged to work for the Objectives of the Caucus.
40. The Meeting ended with unanimous adoption of a resolution and formal thanks to the Chair.
The Resolution is attached as annex‐A
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Annex‐A
“RESOLUTION
The sitting Women Parliamentarians, belonging to all Parliamentary Parties and Groups,
represented in the 12th National Assembly do hereby resolve to constitute a “Women Parliamentary
Caucus”.
PREAMBLE:
In recognition of the contributions to the cause of Pakistani women for political and social
empowerment, the Women Parliamentary Caucus is to be established as a tribute to the pioneer
women of Pakistan, namely Ms. Fatima Jinnah, Begum Rana Liaqat Ali Khan, Shaheed Mohtarma
Benazir Bhutto and all the women rights activists.
OBJECTIVES
The Women Parliamentary Caucus will pursue the following objectives:
1. To attain a broad‐based consensus among all women members of the Parliament on an
agreed agenda for women development, empowerment and emancipation, enabling
them to work beyond and above party lines for the uplift of the women of Pakistan.
2. To enhance the role of women parliamentarians in proposing gender sensitive
legislation, reviewing and amending discriminatory laws and policies;
3. Ensure effective parliamentary oversight of implementation of international and
regional commitments, national policies and programmes;
4. Facilitate exchange of views and information sharing on critical areas of concern,
particularly social discriminatory practices, both nationally and internationally;
5. Liaise and build working relationship with key state and civil society institutions and
organizations in order to contribute towards national and international efforts for
promoting women’s rights, empowerment and gender equality;
6. Review rules and procedures in order to ensure women’s continued access to, and
participation in the National Assembly;
7. To jointly work for the achievement of the social indicators so that the Millennium
Development Goals are within reach.
The House reposes its confidence in the leadership of the Speaker of the 12th National Assembly as a
Patron and thanks her for the initiative taken by her for translating the idea of Caucus into reality. “
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