ACCORDING to Article 51 of Pakistan`s Constitution, 60 special seats for women have been reserved in the National Assembly; 35 from Punjab, 14 from Sindh, eight from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and three from Balochistan. Since no elections against these seats are required, women candidates are nominated by the party heads purely at theirown discretion, and most of the ones who are nominated tend to be close family friends or relatives of party heads.

All these `legislators` enjoy every single perk and privilege that is available to an elected representative. And yet, most of the women so selected do not take part in the National Assembly proceedings,and act as mere sleeping partners in the business of the house, whereas their leaders remain active, knowing they will have their votes when required.

It is interesting to note that this time, six general seats in the National Assembly have been reduced to 266, instead of 272, but not a single seat has been reduced againstthe specialseats.

Since the word `special` in modern parlance reflects some disability, it would be more appropriate if these special seats are merged with the generalseats, and those interested should contest the generalelections.

This would make it a fair game.

Readers would recall that Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah, Benazir Bhutto, Faryal Talpur and many others contested the general seats in their time. Such individuals remain active in meaningful political activities simply because they are `elected` and not `selected`.

Khawaja Tajammul Hussain Karachi