How Pakistan still shuts women out of political power

In Pakistan’s last general election, in February 2024, Suriya Bibi became the first woman to be elected to the provincial assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwah from Chitral, on the Afghanistan–Pakistan border. She contested the election as an independent candidate with no prior history of contesting elections, though the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI), led by the former prime minister Imran Khan, backed her candidacy. She won with almost 19,000 votes, defeating a male candidate of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), a party representing the Deobandi brand of Islam, known for its ultra-conservative views on women’s participation in public life. After the election, Suriya Bibi also became the deputy speaker of the provincial assembly.

In contesting the election, Suriya Bibi chose a more difficult route into politics than the one many women in Pakistan have previously taken. That route is nomination, rather than election, to the country’s national assembly and provincial assemblies. As a female candidate, she worked to create a constituency among women voters, and her campaign brought more women out to vote than men for the first time in Khyber Pakhtunkhwah’s history. Along the way, Suriya Bibi dented some of the stereotypes in Pakistan – and beyond – about women’s participation in politics as candidates and as voters. This would not have been possible if she instead sought a nomination to public office.