Mindset of patriarchy gripped reform commissions

The mindset of patriarchy won in the election and constitutional reform commissions over deciding on women's seats in Parliament, Badiul Alam Mazumder said on Thursday.
Referring to the political parties involved in those reform discussions, he said that the parties wanted to increase the number of seats for women in parliament. However, they failed to suggest a specific system on how the election could be held.
"The election reform commission had proposed 100 seats for the women in parliament in the rotation system while the constitution reform commission proposed what we see in the union council election.
He was speaking at a roundtable discussion organized by the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS), in partnership with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands titled: "Inclusive Politics: Women and Youth's Pathways to Leadership"
The discussion was held at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) Auditorium in the city.
Joris van Bommel, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Bangladesh, and Badiul Alam Mazumder, Chairman of the Election Reform Commission, were the guests of honour.
Badiul Alam also urged investment in improving the lot of women, adding that the poor nutrition condition of women was actually affecting the nation as assessed by UNICEF. People in Bangladesh are more prone to diseases like heart and kidney ailment, and diabetes compared to the people in the western world mainly due to the poor health status of pregnant mothers in Bangladesh.
"So, we have to invest more for women and their political rights and status," he explained.
Barrister Shameem Haider Patwary, Secretary General, Jatiya Party, however, warned that the consensus commission won't be successful as they remained not inclusive. They excluded big parties like the Jatiya party and others. "Even if they reach consensus, it won't survive."
Advocate Fahima Nasrin Munni, Assistant Secretary, International Affairs, BNP, said that women had to fight ten times more than their male counterparts to secure their position in politics in the country. They faced a similar situation when it came to getting nomination from the political parties to contest election.
Prof Tania Haque of the University of Dhaka spoke for a qualitative change in politics to welcome more women and girls in politics as the way people treat women in social media and politics remains toxic and growingly unwelcoming.
Zahir Uddin Swapon, Advisor to the Chairperson, BNP, Md Rashed Khan, General Secretary, Gono Odhikar Parishad, Khaled Saifullah, Joint Convener, National Citizen Party (NCP), Sheikh Fajlul Karim Maruf, Central Dawa and Publicity Secretary, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, also spoke among others.
The roundtable was chaired by Zillur Rahman, CGS, with Parvez Karim Abbasi, Executive Director of CGS, moderating it.

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