Women affairs reform commission is set to recommend direct voting in 300 parliamentary seats which would be kept reserved for women. In that case, it will be recommended to increase the number of seats to 600.
The recommendation also sought changes in all the laws where there is discrimination against women.
The most significant recommendations are to be made in the family laws. The recommendations will include ensuring equal rights for women of all religions in cases of inheritance, child custody and protection, and marriage and divorce.
Recommendations will also be made to announce a political party ineligible to contest elections in case of their failure to ensure 33 per cent female representation in all levels of the party by 2030, as has been stipulated in the Representation of the People Order (RPO), and representation of male and female through election.
Women affairs reform commission chief Shireen Parveen Haque confirmed the recommendations to Prothom Alo.
The women affairs reform commission is one of the 11 reform commissions formed by the interim government. The commission was scheduled to submit its report to the chief adviser on 30 March.
But the cabinet division last Thursday extended the tenure of five reform commissions, including the women affairs reform commission, by another month.
The four other commissions are on health, labour, local government and the media. The commissions have been asked to submit their reports on 30 April.
The media reform commission, however, has already submitted its report to the chief adviser. And, the women affairs reform commission is likely to submit its report in the third week of this month.
Asked, women affairs reform commission chief Shireen Parveen Haque told Prothom Alo on Saturday that the recommendations will be made in three clusters - short term, middle and long term.
Though the commission will not have any separate recommendation to ensure 33 per cent female representation in the political parties, it will make some proposals in this regard
Clarifying the clusters, she said that the interim government could implement the short term recommendations while the middle term recommendations will be for the next political government and the long term recommendations will reflect the women movement’s aspirations for rights and empowerment.
Responding to a question, Shireen Haque remarked that 300 parliamentary seats are not enough to represent so many people of the country. Taking the number of people into consideration, it has been recommended to raise the number of seats to 600. Of those seats, direct voting is recommended in 300 seats that have to be kept reserved for women.
The commission, however, is not going to recommend a bicameral system of parliament.
Though it will not have any separate recommendation to ensure 33 per cent female representation in the political parties, it will make some proposals in this regard.
Speaking about this, Shireen Haque said, “The RPO has provisions asking the political parties to ensure 33 per cent female representation in various committees. We want the political parties to abide by those. There will be no separate recommendation for this. The RPO, however, does not have any punitive action for not following the provisions. We want punitive actions like declaring a party ineligible for not fulfilling the provision. There will be recommendations that would say about the election of committee members, both male and female.”
The interim government is capable of implementing the changes we are seeking, because this government is not dependent on votesShireen Parveen Haque, women affairs reform commission chief
Election commission sources said the RPO mentioned about ensuring 33 per cent female representation in all levels of the political parties by 2020. The parties pledged to fulfill the target while taking registration in 2008 too. But none of them could fulfill the target within the stipulated time. Later, the RPO was amended with the time being extended until 2030 to ensure the 33 female representation.
Women rights activists have been demanding for a long time for a uniform family law to ensure inheritance rights, children’s custody and equal rights in marriage and divorce for females from all religions. They seek an amendment of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961, the Succession Act of 1925, the Guardians and Wards Act of 1890, and the Citizenship Act, 1951 to ensure women’s equal rights in family and public life.
After coming to power in 1996, the government of Bangladesh Awami League adopted the National Women Development Policy-1997, which spoke about equal rights of women in all spheres of life including inheritance. But the four-party alliance government of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami, after assuming power in 2001, amended the policy a little adding the provision that nothing could be done going against the Koran and Sunnah.
The Awami League, until being ousted in 2024 after coming to power again in 2009, did not show any interest in bringing changes to the family laws where inequality was evident.
This lack of interest of the political governments have affected the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) treaty.
Bangladesh ratified the CEDAW treaty in 1984 but with reservations on articles 2 and 16.1(c).
Article 2 of CEDAW says the state parties will adopt legal and administrative measures and amend laws to eliminate all types of discrimination against women.
Article 16.1(c) is about the same rights and responsibilities during marriage and at its dissolution.
No Bangladeshi government withdrew the reservations on the two CEDAW articles.
Speaking about this, Shireen Haque said they have been recommending bringing changes in the discriminatory articles of family laws, and withdrawing reservations on the two CEDAW articles.
“The interim government is capable of implementing the changes we are seeking, because this government is not dependent on votes,” she stated.
The commission recommended six months’ maternity leave for all the working women, including those working at readymade garment factories, at private firms. Currently, only women in government jobs avail the facility. A few private organisations also provide this facility to the female employees.
The women affairs reform commission is also recommending setting up day-care centres at government and private organisations, forming a women rights commission, and revoking the provision on marrying away girls below 18 years of age.
The gazette notification of the 10-strong women affairs reform commission was issued on 18 November last year.
Other members of the commission are - Brac Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) senior fellow Maheen Sultan, Bangladesh Women Lawyers’ Association former president Fawzia Karim Firoze, Bangladesh Garments and Industry Workers’ Federation president Kalpana Akter, women’s healthcare expert Halida Hanum Akhter, Bangladesh Women Workers Centre executive director Sumaiya Islam, National Human Rights Commission’s former member Nirupa Dewan, Naripokkho director Kamrun Nahar, senior social development adviser at Asian Development Bank Ferdousi Sultana and student representative Nishita Zaman Niha.
* The report, originally published in the Bangla edition of Prothom Alo, has been rewritten in English by Shameem Reza