Political Participation Of Women In Democratic Country: A Constitutional Perspective

Abstract

In a democratic system, all citizens are equally treated by the state without any discrimination of gender, caste, color, or tribe. After becoming an independent country in 1947, Pakistan also adopted a democratic system but democracy in Pakistan experienced so many ups and downs. The constitution-making history of Pakistan started with the first constituent assembly, which was assigned the task of framing the constitution for the newly established country but unfortunately it was unable to complete the assigned task and was dissolved by the then Governor General Ghulam Muhammad. After that second constituent assembly was constituted which gave the constitution of 1956, this constitution was parliamentary in nature. After about two and a half years of its implementation, it was dissolved in 1958, after that another step was taken to have a new constitution for the country. Resultantly, the Constitution of 1962 was adopted, this constitution was presidential in form, but this constitution was also dissolved in 1969. Moreover, in 1973 third constitution was implemented in the country, in which there were provisions given to safeguard the constitution itself. So, the political crises remained in history, therefore, till today Pakistan is suffering from political issues, and during the whole history less measures have been taken toward ensuring women’s political participation. The women’s participation is the essential element for promoting a pure democratic system because women’s participation at the local, provincial as well as national level is the key towards women empowerment and good governance.

This research paper aims to highlight the importance of the political participation of women in democratic country, for making research more comprehensive the Pakistani perspective have been adopted. Mainly, the data has been collected through secondary sources by reviewing the available existing literature including historical material and relevant official documents.