The Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) has urged all parliaments and legislatures to use gender neutral language and remove such expressions from their official communication that only represent men.
The CPA has recommended the terms "chairman and vice-chairman" be replaced with "chairperson and vice-chairperson." CPA Secretary General Denis Marshall has conveyed this to all the partner states including Pakistan through a letter.
The CPA took this decision in the light of a proposal Chair (person) Pakistan Senate Mohammedmian Soomro floated at its last meeting held in Abuja, Nigeria. Mohammedmian Soomro is also the chair (person) of the CPA executive committee, Asia region.
It may be mentioned here that the title "chairperson" was used in 2004 when the CPA decided to include the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians to its fold and to add its elected representatives to the executive committee.