33pc Positions for Women: Most parties nowhere near
The Representation of the People Order -- the act that governs the electoral system -- does not ask for much.
It is only asking that in a country where half the population are men and half are women, women should make up a third of any political party. Not half or 50 percent following the natural population ratio, but only a third, a minority.
The law stipulates this requirement be met by 2020, and calls it a pre-requisite for any political party's registration with the Election Commission.
"If any political party wants to be registered, it shall fulfil one of the following conditions, namely -- fixing the goal of reserving at least 33 percent of all committee positions, including that of the central committee, for women, and successively achieving the goal by the year 2020," states the RPO.
This target was set in 2008, when the law was amended to incorporate this provision.
Fast-forward to 2020, and with only nine months for the deadline to end, a majority of the political parties have not managed to meet the requirement. The Daily Star found this talking to leaders of 25 of the country's 41 registered political parties.
Let's start with the ruling Awami League.
The AL, led by its president Sheikh Hasina, is yet to reach the milestone, falling short approximately by 7 percentage points. Nineteen members of its 74-strong central committee are women, meaning women make around 26 percent of the committee. Seven posts are empty right now.
The BNP seems to have made little efforts to meet the requirement. Its advisory body which is comprised of 73 members includes eight women, meaning women make up only 11 percent of it.
Despite repeated attempts by this correspondent, leaders of Jatiya Party, the main opposition in parliament, could not confirm such numbers till last night.
Jatiya Party (Manju) has 16 women in its core committee of 101 members, said its Secretary General Sheikh Shahidul Islam, meaning women constitute 15.8 percent of the committee.
Bangladesh Worker's Party did not give any positive statistics either. Its Chairperson Rashed Khan Menon said, "There is one woman out of 15 members in the politburo, and 10 women among 90 members in the central committee."
Liberal Democratic Party's 148-member central committee includes 33 women, according to its chief Oli Ahmad. This makes for 22 percent of the committee.
Bangladesh National Awami Party's Secretary General Anamul Haque stated that there are 8 women in their central committee, which has 49 posts.
Bangladesh Muslim League's Secretary General Alhaj Kazi Abul Khaer said they have only 12 women in their 101-strong central committee.
There are 33 women in the 251-member central body of Pragatishil Ganatantrik Dal, according to its Secretary-General MA Hossain.
Bangladesh Islami Front's Secretary General MA Matin said they have 3 women among their 61-member central committee.
Talking to The Daily Star, only 5 parties claimed women constituted 33 percent of each of their central committees. For example, Md Zakir Hossain, chairperson of Gono Front, said the party's 51-member central body includes 17 women.
Zaker Party's acting secretary general Ezazur Rasul also claimed that 33 percent of the party's central committee is comprised of women, but the exact figure was not available.
Ahmed Abdul Kader, secretary general of Khelafat Majlish, an Islamist political party, said, "We have 62 men and 31 women in the central committee."
But it must be noted that women are rarely seen in any of the party's activities. For example, the party posted photos of its general assembly held on December 25, 2019 on its website. One would easily notice that the committee members on the programme stage, and those watching from below were all men, with no women.
Jatiya Ganatantrik Party (JAGPA)'s acting chairperson Barrister Tasmia Pradhan says 36.6 percent of its core committee members are women. Out of 82 members, 30 are women, she said.
It is to be noted that other than the Awami League and the BNP, only two other parties have women as their head. JAGPA is one of them, while the other is Bangladesh Muslim League, which is headed by Begum Zobaida Qader Chowdhury.
REACTIONS FROM LEADERS
Asked about the low participation of women in the committees, some blamed the existing patriarchy in the society, some pointed finger at the existing political practices, while some doubted the necessity of having women in the party to begin with.
LDP's Oli Ahmad said, "Because of the prevailing political situation and the problems they [women] face in day-to-day lives, women are not interested in joining politics.
"Many of them have developed a hatred for politics. They feel they have nothing to say."
Dilip Barua, chief of Bangladesh Samyabadi Dal, which has no women at its core committee, said, "Educated, intellectually active women do not want to come to politics."
Bangladesh Islami Front and Pragatishil Ganatantrik Dal totally dismissed the idea of having women in their central leadership.
"If we bring so many women in the committee, the party will simply not run," MA Hossain, secretary general of Pragatishil Ganatantrik Dal, told this correspondent.
Bangladesh Islami Front's Secretary-General MA Matin said, "Women themselves do not want this. They want to stay among themselves, the same way men want to stay among themselves. We have proposed that the Election Commission reconsiders this requirement."
Experts in the field working to increase women's participation in politics, however, beg to differ.
"Most men think that women want a separate unit for themselves. The women do not say that. The women's branch is about women's issues at the local level e.g. violence against women. They need to be given the chance to impact the party's decision-making powers," said Meghna Guhathakurta, executive director of Research Initiatives, Bangladesh.
Mujahidul Islam Selim, president of Bangladesh Communist Party, said, "We are being unable to bring more women into the party's fold as primary members. There are plenty of politically active women among garments workers and farm labourers, but we are not being able to bring middle-class women out of their shells, to make them join the mainstream politics."
About Workers Party Bangladesh, Rashed Khan Menon said, "Women have to cross several steps to reach the central leadership."
Guhathakurta said, "Political parties allow women only to rise up to a certain level, but not more than that. Women want to be a part of politics. For example, many women at the union parishad level are very ambitious. They want to be [promoted to] someone at the upazila branch. These are good ambitions."
A few parties are of the opinion that they do not have enough women in their parties due to the domestic duties performed by women.
Gonoforum's Azad Hossain said, "Married women dedicate their time to the welfare of their husbands and in-laws."
In June 2107, the Election Commission sent letters to all the registered political parties, asking them to inform it about their progress in achieving the target -- 33 percent women's representation by 2020.
In its reply, the AL said it would be able to fulfil the criteria by 2020.
The BNP said it hoped that the target would be achieved within the stipulated time.
Contacted, EC Deputy Secretary Abdul Halim Khan said the commission did not have any specific information about how many women leaders are there in the central and other committees of the political parties.
"We will send letters to all the registered political parties soon seeking information on the progress."
Currently, the EC has no plans to extend the deadline, said sources in it.
Asked what it would do if any political party failed to meet the deadline, Halim said, "Almost a year is still in their hand, let's see what happens."
Comments