Pakistani women drive a fifth of Senate agenda: Free and Fair Election Network

• Report challenges stereotypes, showing women’s focus spans economy, security, taxation
• House ‘somewhat less responsive’ to women’s proposals; debate participation remains limited
• BAP’s Samina Mumtaz Zehri emerges as most active female lawmaker

ISLAMABAD: Female senators contributed around 20 per cent of the regular plenary agenda during the 23rd parliamentary year, slightly outpacing their representation in the chamber, according to a new performance report by the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen).

The report, released for the 2025–2026 parliamentary year, found that women’s legislative contribution surpassed their nearly 18pc share of seats in the Senate.

This analysis comes from the latest Women Parliamentarians Performance Report, titled “Women Senators Did It Too!”

Samina Mumtaz Zehri of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) emerged as the most active female senator of the year. She was responsible for submitting 62 of the 207 agenda items contributed solely by women senators, Fafen noted.

Following Zehri, the list of the five most active female senators included Anushe Rehman of the PML-N, who submitted 32 agenda items, and Qurat ul Ain Marri and Sherry Rehman of the Pakistan Peoples Party, who submitted 25 and 24 items, respectively.

Bushra Anjum Butt of the PML-N rounded out the top five with 23 submissions. The contribution of these top five senators accounts for over 80pc of all agenda items submitted by their female colleagues.

On a per-capita basis, female senators contributed agenda items at a slightly higher rate than their male counterparts. The report found that each female senator submitted an average of 12 agenda items during the year, compared with 11 items per male senator.

Despite this individual outperformance, women’s overall share of the Senate agenda declined from 31pc in the previous parliamentary year, 2024–2025.

In terms of attendance, Falak Naz of the PTI achieved the distinction of attending 100pc of the sittings. She was followed by Husna Bano of the PPP, who attended 97pc of sessions.

Other top attendees included Fawzia Arshad of PTI at 83pc, Saadia Abbasi at 80pc and Khalida Ateeb of Muttahida Qaumi Movement at 77pc.

Overall, female senators demonstrated stronger attendance, participating in an average of 38 sittings compared to 34 sittings attended by male senators.

The Fafen report also assessed the Senate’s institutional responsiveness to legislation proposed by women.

Using a Gender Responsiveness Score (GRS), the report assigned an overall score of 0.9, indicating that the Senate was “somewhat less responsive to women Senators’ agenda”.

Notably, the report found that Calling Attention Notices and proposals for amendments to rules submitted by female senators were not addressed at all during the year. However, their questions and private member bills were taken up at rates comparable to those of male senators.

While active in submitting agendas, most female senators fell into the “rarely spoke” category based on the Participation Rate Index for plenary debates.

According to the report, only one female senator did not participate in any debates, contributing to the House solely through agenda submission.

This pattern, the report suggests, may point to potential institutional or procedural barriers affecting women’s verbal participation.

The report challenges the perception that women parliamentarians focus narrowly on gender-related issues. The agenda items submitted by female senators covered a wide range of policy areas, including economic policy, national security, taxation, governance and parliamentary procedure, alongside legislation on women’s rights and social protection.

Historically, female representation in the Senate has remained stable at around 17 to 18pc, with most women entering the House through reserved seats. Currently, only one female senator, Sherry Rehman of the PPP, has been elected on a general seat.

While key parliamentary leadership positions — including the Chairman, Deputy Chairman, and Leaders of the Treasury and the Opposition — are all held by men, female senators chair eight of the Senate’s 44 committees. This represents 18pc of chairmanships across standing, functional, and domestic committees.

The report concludes by emphasising that greater involvement by political parties is needed to increase women’s representation in general seats rather than confining them primarily to reserved quotas.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2026