Pakistan

When Pakistan's new foreign minister arrived in India for talks in 2011 it triggered a media storm on both sides of the border –

According to a 2012 survey by the World Economic Forum, Pakistan is still considered to be one of the worst places in the world to be a woman. With a total of 37 million registered female voters, the policies adopted by political parties to ensure the rights and progress of women might play a key role in the outcome of the elections.

For decades, not a single woman in this dusty Pakistani village surrounded by wheat fields and orange trees has voted. And they aren't likely to in next week's parliamentary election either. The village's men have spoken. "It's the will of my husband," said one woman, Fatma Shamshed. "This is the decision of all the families." Mateela is one of 564 out of the 64,000 polling districts across Pakistan where not a single woman voted in the country's 2008 election.

In the history of political participation and representation, women have either been under-represented or excluded. The notion of “private woman and public man” described patriarchal society in recorded history. In Fata, this notion is still working with greater impetus. Women have been denied participant roles in the political electoral system because of their perceived physical, intellectual and man-controlled honour complexes. According to statistical data, women constitute more than half of the total population of Fata.

Despite the welcome addition of a woman candidate contesting independently from Bajaur Agency, the overall number of women candidates contesting on general seats of the National Assembly (NA) has stayed much the same since the 2002 election.

As Malaysia's political parties finalize their candidate lists for Nomination Day next weekend, a mothers' group has unveiled its own election 'manifesto'.

(We invite our users to read the complete article published April 15 2013)