51% of the population, but Islamist parties resist even 5% direct quota for women MPs

Despite women’s prominent role in Bangladesh’s pro-democracy uprising last year, efforts to improve their political representation face resistance, particularly from Islamist parties, as the country prepares for its next general election. A final draft of the July Charter, prepared by the National Consensus Commission, proposes that political parties nominate at least 5 percent female candidates for the 300 directly elected seats in parliament. But several Islamist parties, including Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, and Nizam-e-Islami Party, have opposed even this modest quota. The Charter’s authors had originally recommended that parties nominate at least 33 percent women candidates, aligning with long-standing demands from women’s rights groups and earlier reform commissions. But during the national dialogue, this proposal was gradually diluted,...