CHITRAL: The district amir of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Maulana Jamshed Ahmed here on Sunday urged the political parties and civil society organisations to join them to welcome the central amir of the party Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on October 2 on his maiden visit to district Chitral. While addressing a press conference, he said that the local political leaders and civil society activists always greeted the central leaders of other political parties, setting aside their ideological and political differences. JI leader said that the workers of his party had played active part to give warm reception to Imran Khan, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Nawaz Sharif during their visits to the valley. He expressed the hope that the political and religious parties would also accord a heartily welcome to Hafiz Naeem. He said that in the ongoing national scenario of frustration and despair, Hafiz Naeem had emerged a ray of hope on the national horizon who had taken up the basic issues confronting the common man of the country. WOMEN EMPOWERMENT: The participants of an advocacy meeting on ‘Inclusion of Women in Political Process’ urged the government to devise the forthcoming Local Government Act in such a way to ensure selection to the reserved seats of women was made purely on merit basis. With the financial assistance of Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, the discussion was held under the aegis of a local NGO, in which senior leaders of different political parties and representatives of civic bodies discussed the issues of the inclusion of women in politics. Speaking on the occasion, the NGO head Mustafeezur Rehman said that without giving the women their due share in the political process, the democracy and its institutions couldn’t be strengthened as women formed 52 per cent of country’s population. He said that one of the dilemmas was that while nominating candidates against the reserved seats for women, the personal ability and acumen of the women workers were overlooked as a result of which the local government bodies remained unrepresented. The participants discussed different ways and means to carry out a wide-ranging advocacy campaign on the issue and solicit the assistance of the relevant quarters both in the government and the civil society.