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No First Lady? Don`t worry: The Asian Age
Islamabad, Feb 13: It was a summit of First Ladies, but only three came. The fourth was Begum Sehba Musharraf, the First Lady of the host country, Pakistan. The other eight countries that participated in the Third Summit of First Ladies of the Regional Steering Committee for Advancement of Rural and Island Women in the Asia-Pacific Region, which concluded in Islamabad on Thursday, were represented by either their ministers, or envoys.
Islamabad, Feb 13: It was a summit of First Ladies, but only three came. The fourth was Begum Sehba Musharraf, the First Lady of the host country, Pakistan. The other eight countries that participated in the Third Summit of First Ladies of the Regional Steering Committee for Advancement of Rural and Island Women in the Asia-Pacific Region, which concluded in Islamabad on Thursday, were represented by either their ministers, or envoys.
India was one of the eight. While in many cases the First Ladies had sent their representatives, India did not really have a choice — President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee are both unmarried. Dr Najma Heptullah, the deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, was therefore chosen to lead the Indian delegation.
This landed the official representatives of delegations, who were busy drafting the rules and procedures of the regional steering committee adopted at the end of the summit, in the midst of an unusual debate before the rules were finalised. The point of debate: What happens to a country seeking membership if it has no First Lady? The discussion on devising a politically correct definition for setting eligibility criteria finally led to the inclusion of a new criterion: in the absence of a First Lady of a state seeking membership, the head of state, or government, can designate a special envoy.
There are three other eligibility criteria mentioned in Article 4 of the rules and procedures. The first of the eligibility options is: All wives of heads of state, or government, of a country in the region are eligible to seek membership of the RSC AP. If the First Lady cannot attend the summit, the second option says, "Where a country is headed by a lady who is unable to attend due to her official responsibilities, she may appoint a special envoy to attend the RSC AP meetings on her behalf, subject to the approval of the members of the committee." In the event of a First Lady wishing to join the RSC AP, but unable to participate herself, the third option states that she may appoint a special envoy to participate on her behalf during the term of her mandate. Such appointment shall, however, be subject to the approval of the member states.
India was one of the eight. While in many cases the First Ladies had sent their representatives, India did not really have a choice — President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee are both unmarried. Dr Najma Heptullah, the deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, was therefore chosen to lead the Indian delegation.
This landed the official representatives of delegations, who were busy drafting the rules and procedures of the regional steering committee adopted at the end of the summit, in the midst of an unusual debate before the rules were finalised. The point of debate: What happens to a country seeking membership if it has no First Lady? The discussion on devising a politically correct definition for setting eligibility criteria finally led to the inclusion of a new criterion: in the absence of a First Lady of a state seeking membership, the head of state, or government, can designate a special envoy.
There are three other eligibility criteria mentioned in Article 4 of the rules and procedures. The first of the eligibility options is: All wives of heads of state, or government, of a country in the region are eligible to seek membership of the RSC AP. If the First Lady cannot attend the summit, the second option says, "Where a country is headed by a lady who is unable to attend due to her official responsibilities, she may appoint a special envoy to attend the RSC AP meetings on her behalf, subject to the approval of the members of the committee." In the event of a First Lady wishing to join the RSC AP, but unable to participate herself, the third option states that she may appoint a special envoy to participate on her behalf during the term of her mandate. Such appointment shall, however, be subject to the approval of the member states.