Speaking to FMT, officials of Empower and the Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) said they were pleased that Pakatan, at its recent convention, made a call for the appointment of more women to politically powerful positions and decided to name PKR president Wan Azizah Ismail as its candidate for deputy prime minister.
During the convention last weekend, Pakatan’s women leaders urged the coalition to ensure that women would form 30% of the Putrajaya administration should it win the coming general election.
Taman Medan assemblyperson Haniza Talha of PKR, speaking on behalf of the coalition’s women’s wing, foresaw the 30% quota as being a constituent of an affirmative action policy to benefit women.
Towards the end of the convention, Pakatan chief secretary Saifuddin Abdullah ended months of speculation about the opposition alliance’s choice of PM-designate when he announced that it would be PPBM chairman Mahathir Mohamad. He also announced that Mahathir’s deputy would be Wan Azizah.
Angela M. Kuga Thas, the executive director of Empower, said the announcement meant that it had now become more likely for a woman to become the country’s prime minister.
“It’s a very pragmatic development,” she said. “It shows a lot of promise and it speaks of how women can actually hold one of the highest positions in the country.
“It shows perspectives are changing in terms of women’s leadership and capacity and that women are not just there for women’s issues. Women are not just mothers and wives. They’re also concerned about such issues as trade, the economy and national security.”
WAO communications officer Tan Heang Lee said her organisation would like to see women making up 30% of the Dewan Rakyat as well as of the federal cabinet, but only as a start. “In time, we hope that women’s representation will rise to 50%.”
Referring to a 2016 World Bank report, she noted that 40% of the countries surveyed had quotas for women MPs or women’s representatives in local councils.
“Women’s representation in Malaysian politics is currently dismal,” she said. “Only 11% of our MPs and 9% of our cabinet are women. We need more women in parliament, in the cabinet and at all levels of government.”
In order to increase the number of women in the Dewan Rakyat, she said, political parties must field more women candidates for election.