Women Elected on Reserved Seats, Are they eligible for the top slot?

Recently, I heard an argument presented in a TV talk show that the women elected on reserved seats in federal and provincial legislatures are not eligible to contest the election for the top slot of their respective assembly because these women are nominated, and not elected, members of the assembly. Through this article, I would make an effort to elucidate a very intriguing question i.e. whether women members elected on reserved seat are eligible or ineligible to contest the election for the post of Prime Minister of Pakistan or the Chief Minister of a province.

Election of the women on reserved seats in National Assembly is dealt by Article 51 of the Constitution of Pakistan. Relevant portion of the said Article is reproduced below:

51. National Assembly:

(1) There shall be three hundred and forty-two seats for members in the National Assembly, including seats reserved for women and non-Muslims.

(3) The seats in the National Assembly referred to in clause (1), except as provided in clause (4), shall be allocated to each Province, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the Federal Capital as under :—

(4) In addition to the number of seats referred to in clause (3), there shall be, in the National Assembly, ten seats reserved for non-Muslims.

(6) For the purpose of election to the National Assembly,—­

(a) the constituencies for the general seats shall be single member territorial constituencies and the members to fill such seats shall be elected by direct and free vote in accordance with law;

(b) each Province shall be a single constituency for all seats reserved for women which are allocated to the respective Provinces under clause (3);

(c) the constituency for all seats reserved for non-Muslims shall be the whole country;

(d) members to the seats reserved for women which are allocated to a Province under clause (3) shall be elected in accordance with law through proportional representation system of political parties’ lists of candidates on the basis of total number of general seats secured by each political party from the Province concerned in the National Assembly.

Provided that for the purpose of this sub-clause the total number of general seats won by a political party shall include the independent returned candidate or candidates who may duly join such political party within three days of the publication in the official Gazette of the names of the returned candidates;

Perusal of Article 51 (6)(d) of the Constitution clarifies that women who become members of parliament on reserved seats are also considered fully-elected members. It does not classify these members as nominated members or members having lesser rights than the elected members.

Likewise, Article 106 of the Constitution deals with the formation of the Provincial Assemblies and sub-clauses b and c of Article 106 (3) of the Constitution deal with the election of women on reserved seats. And women who become members of a provincial assembly on reserved seats are also considered full members of the assembly.

Now, we shall discuss the election of the Prime Minister of Pakistan or the Chief Minister of a province.

Article 91 of the Constitution deals with the election of the Prime Minister. Relevant portion of the said Article is reproduced hereunder:

91. The Cabinet:

(1) There shall be a Cabinet of Ministers, with the Prime Minister at its head, to aid and advise the President in the exercise of his functions.

(2) The National Assembly shall meet on the twenty-first day following the day on which a general election to the Assembly is held, unless sooner summoned by the President.

(3) After the election of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, the National Assembly shall, to the exclusion of any other business, proceed to elect without debate one of its Muslim members to be the Prime Minister.

(4) The Prime Minister shall be elected by the votes of the majority of the total membership of the National Assembly:

Likewise, Article 130 of the Constitution deals with the election of the Chief Minister. Similar language is used in this Article for the election of the Chief Minister as is used for the election of the Prime Minister with exception to one anomaly that even non-Muslim can contest the election for Chief Minister of the province.

Perusal of Article 91(3) and Article 130 of the Constitution suggests that it does not bar the women elected on reserved seats to contest the election of the top slot in their assembly as it clearly suggests that the House can elect any one of its Muslim members to be the Prime Minister or elect any member of the provincial assembly to be the Chief Minister. It does not draw any distinction between members elected in general elections and women elected on reserved seats. Thus, the question that whether women elected on reserved seats are also eligible to contest the election for the top slot – the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister – is answered in affirmative