Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Chairperson

A Member of the Pakistan National Assembly, Hon. Kasmala Tariq, MP, was elected to chair the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) for the period 2007 to 2010.

Ms Kashmala Tariq, MNA, a Member of the Pakistani Parliament since 2002, was elected by about 80 women Members of Parliaments and Legislatures from around the Commonwealth at the CWP Business Meeting in New Delhi on 24 September. The meeting was part of the 53rd Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference being hosted in New Delhi by the Parliament of India. Ms Tariq won the post in balloting against Parliamentarians from Canada, Dominica and the Australian state of New South Wales.

Ms Tariq, a corporate lawyer, will serve a three-year term as Chairperson of the CWP Steering Committee, succeeding Hon. Lindiwe Maseko, MPL, Chairperson of Portfolio Committees Chairpersons in Gauteng, South Africa. Ms Maseko was the first elected Chairperson of the CWP, having been elected to the office in 2004. The Steering is composed of the Chairperson and one woman Parliamentarian representing each of CPA’s nine geographic Regions.

Ms Tariq promised to work with the CPA so the Commonwealth’s 175 Parliaments and Legislatures ensure the equal participation of men and women in setting policies and passing legislation that reduce gender inequities and promote the rights of women.

Ms Tariq, who was Vice-Chairperson of the Steering Committee, sits on three standing committees in her Parliament: Law; Justice and Human Rights; and Finance and Commerce. A graduate of the London School of Economics, she started her political career as a student activist. She is Executive Director of the Parliamentarians Commission for Human Rights, a cross-party caucus of more than 60 Members of the Pakistani Parliament.