After days of existing in a state of limbo, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s new cabinet finally took shape on Friday after ten provincial ministers were sworn in while two advisers and a special assistant were appointed.
However, many on social media were quick to point out that the new KP government, with Chief Minister Sohail Afridi at the helm, lacked female representation.
“No woman representation, afsos (regrettable),” said Haroon Rashid, managing editor at Independent Urdu.
“These all-male clubs are not only unacceptable but also unstoppable,” said journalist Mariana Baabar.
“So it’s an all-male 13-member provincial cabinet picked by KP CM Afridi that took the oath of office on Friday in Peshawar,” she said.
National Democratic Movement member and ex-MNA Bushra Gohar, replying to KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, pointed out that he had “signed the summary of an all-male provincial cabinet”.
“You could have at least raised an observation about it. Concerning that women are excluded from all key decisions forums in the province,” she added.
Journalist Zahid Gishkori said he hoped that CM Afridi would include at least one woman in his cabinet.
Writer and activist Afiya Shehrbano Zia said the appointment of an “all-male KP cabinet reveals the limits of women’s loyalty to a populist male leader — only symbolic rewards available for political tradwives”.
Aaj TV Peshawar Bureau Chief Farzana Ali responded to a post from producer Adeel Raja, who said that the PTI’s reserved seats for women were “snatched” from the party and the lone woman who won on a general seat was the current deputy speaker of the provincial assembly.
Responding to this, she said that women could still be appointed as advisers and special assistants. She further stated that capable women like Ayesha Bano, a former member of the provincial assembly, can be included.
Former KP ombudsperson Rukhshanda Naz noted, “Men are included as advisers, why not women? There is no democracy without women’s participation.”
Meanwhile, Shireen Mazari, ex-human rights minister and former PTI leader, also joined the discourse. Echoing Raja’s opinion, she said that the ruling party only had one directly elected woman member in KP, who was also the current deputy speaker.
“The Election Commission of Pakistan/Supreme Court denied PTI the reserved seats it should have been given and merrily distributed them as free gifts to all other parties in the KP assembly. Was that acceptable to you?” she asked while responding to Baabar’s post.
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