Women Woman Who
Speaks for Pakistan
by Zofeen T. Ebrahim
In
her lavender-colored embroidered 'shalwar kameez' (Pakistani attire of
long tunic and baggy trousers), with diamond-studded pearl earrings
sneaking through her sheer scarf, Dr Fehmida Mirza, 51, looked uncannily
like her leader Benazir Bhutto.
And like Bhutto, she was an epitome of composure, poise and eloquence as
she took her oath of office as Speaker of Pakistan's National Assembly.
"I am honored and humbled. This chair carries a big responsibility. I am
feeling that responsibility today and will, God willing, come up to
expectations," she said after taking oath last week.
Winning an overwhelming 249 in the 324-seat Lower House, to the
welcoming pounding of desks by the legislators, Mirza, a joint-candidate
of the Pakistan
People's Party (PPP), the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and the Awami
National Party (ANP), made history when she became the first woman to be
elected Speaker in the National Assembly. Many insist she is the first
Muslim woman to be a Speaker.
Interestingly, she not only earned laurels from her own party that
nominated her for the Speaker's seat, but has received unmitigated
respect and admiration from the media. Many see in her a vindication of
the blow that was dealt to women in politics after the assassination of
Bhutto in December last year.
Endearingly termed Nancy Pelosi of Pakistan by Nusrat Javeed, a senior
journalist, she is described by Javeed as one who has "has good
political instinct" who "during her tenure as member of the opposition,
not only actively participated in all debates, but was known to have
done her homework well on whichever issue she took up."
With a woman as the Speaker of the house, Javeed said, while it may mean
she may sometimes be accommodative of some positive discrimination in
favor of women, there is little doubt that it was election that has
paved the way for women parliamentarians all to be acceptable in their
own right once and for all.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi, a PPP leader, told the media that the election of
Mirza was a "big step towards the empowerment of women in Pakistan".
Mirza, a medical doctor by qualification, comes from a prominent
political landed family of Sindh, the home province of slain Bhutto, who
decided to put aside her degree and pursued her career in agriculture
(politics).
"It's going to be a colorful assembly," predicted Asma Shirazi, a
correspondent with a private channel.
And colorful it was with the female legislators alighting from gleaming
cars, in their smart outfits, high heels, carrying designer bags and
gold-trimmed branded sunglasses perched fashionably over their carefully
coifed tresses, others with their heads covered.
These elite women from feudal backgrounds and with powerful connections
present a marked contrast to the veiled women representatives of
religious parties who had dominated the past parliament.
To Shirazi, the Speaker was always a "a soft-spoken, non-aggressive and
humble person".
"I am quite confident that she would be able to lead the House well as
its custodian, she's a seasoned politician, after all," said Dr Donya
Aziz, member of the opposition party, Pakistan Muslim League-Q.
But then, compared to her predecessor Amir Hussain, said Shirazi, the
going would be easy for the speaker because her own party is in majority
and she also enjoys the confidence of some allied parties like the PML
(N), the ANP and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.
This will be Mirza's third tenure in the parliament after winning
electoral contests in 1997 and 2002. But unlike many of her colleagues,
she has always won on general seat rather than one of the twenty per
cent of seats set aside for women lawmakers.
"She got this office purely on merit," said Hamid Mir, a prominent TV
anchor. Mir adds, "She faced a lot of problems in the last eight years
and raised her kids as a single parent because her husband was forced to
go underground due to fake cases cooked up against him by the previous
regime. She was approached many times by the latter to switch her
loyalties but both she and her husband declined." These cases have since
been withdrawn.
Her husband, Dr Zulfikar Ali Mirza, is a close confidant of Asif Ali
Zardari, Bhutto's widower and co-chairperson of the PPP. In fact, he was
accused of being Zardari's front man for carrying out shady deals.
"It's a good feeling as another woman politician breaks the glass
ceiling," said Niilofur Farrukh, an art critic and historian. "I hear
she is a courageous woman and hope she will show her mettle while
managing the negative elements in her party."
While there are quite a few old faces, there are many new to the game.
The challenge is whether they will be able to hold their own.
The first session took place with some 74 of the 342 seats occupied by
women, of which 60 came on reserved seats, thanks to the 20 per cent
quota kept for them - bringing their percentage to 21.6, slightly up
from 21.1 per cent from the previous figure of 2002, but comparing
rather favorably with the world average of 17.9 per cent and the
regional score of 16.9 per cent (Inter-Parliamentary Union Report,
December 2007). Prior to that, the women's presence in the National
Assembly was a mere two per cent.
"The previous women legislators were not the outcome of broad-based
elections. The present ones appear to be more liberally mentally
conditioned," said Najma Sadeque, a political analyst. Yet, she was
skeptical and said they wouldn't "necessarily call the shots" since most
were still largely followers.
"The women in this assembly are hard-core political elements," said
Javeed. "This time it's going to be different in the sense that it's not
just token representation like in the previous parliament where the
female members from the religious alliance - Muttahida Majlis Amal -
hardly ever showed up and never participated," he underscored.
Sadeque, however, was not very optimistic. "None of the major parties
are completely free of feudal or pseudo-religious or territorial-gang
mindsets. The traditionalists still dominate and the 'modernists' among
them, if you will, still have to maintain a balancing act with them
until they acquire more visibility, power and popularity for delivering
the goods."
But she was hopeful the new legislators, would do better "because they
have caught the mood and demands of the people, who are not as ignorant
as before".
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In
her lavender-colored embroidered 'shalwar kameez' (Pakistani attire of
long tunic and baggy trousers), with diamond-studded pearl earrings
sneaking through her sheer scarf, Dr Fehmida Mirza, 51, looked uncannily
like her leader Benazir Bhutto.