ISLAMABAD – For the first time in the history of Pakistan, a transgenderwill be contesting for the National Assembly seat in Okara.
Nayyab Ali, a transgender from Okara district of Punjab, will contest theelection from NA-141 (now NA-144) as an independent candidate.
Currently, Arif Ch of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz is the member ofNational Assembly from the constituency after having secured 105,162 votesin the last elections.
Nayyab Ali is a member of the provincial voter committee of the ElectionCommission of Pakistan and also an active part of the All PakistanTransgender Election Network in Punjab.
While sharing her life experiences, Ali said that she was disowned by herfamily for being transgender when she was in class eight.
She expressed that even though life challenged her hard, but, she refusedto give up and remained motivated and passionate about serving the nationand her people.
“Unlike my opponents from political parties, I am not financially strongand can’t buy votes, but I am confident that the social work I have beendoing will help me win the seat”, she said.
The aspiring lawmaker expressed that she only wanted the government toprovide her security during the campaign, saying it is going to be a majorchallenge to compete against influential candidates.