KUCHING: The 111 Initiative is urging all Malaysian political parties to field more women candidates in the upcoming 15th General Election (GE15).
As the elections approach, the non-governmental organisation (NGO) believes that each political party must not only nominate more women candidates to run at both state and federal levels, but also to provide them with enough resources and funding so that they may be chosen to represent the constituencies they are contesting for.
The 111 Initiative is a campaign under UNDI18 advocating for 50 percent female representation in the Dewan Rakyat. At the moment, only 15 percent of seats in the Dewan Rakyat are held by women which is a much lower percentage than the international target of 30 percent.
“In 2018, out of 687 candidates who contested at the Parliamentary level, only 75 were women. As the decision to field a candidate in a constituency is determined by the leaders of political parties, we implore these leaders to consider putting forth more women representatives to not only diversify and make Parliament more representative, but to also achieve the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) which call for equal opportunities to women and men in the political field,” it said in a statement today (Oct 17).
The 111 Initiative stated that better representation holds the key to a more advanced Malaysia which begins with the nomination and appointment of more women candidates.
While the implementation of voluntary political party quotas (VPPQ) by political parties is a good measure, it said there is a need for parties to assign at least 30 percent of seats being contested to women candidates.
“Thus far, there are only two parties in Malaysia that have implemented some version of VVPQ. We call for more political parties to adopt this mechanism,” it said.
It also said in the longer term, structural electoral reform must be done to increase women’s representation.
In line with the recommendation of the Electoral Reform Committee (ERC), the introduction of the Mixed Member Proportional system to replace the current First-Past-The-Post system will enable the introduction of gender quotas as a national policy.
“By taking affirmative action, we will follow the footsteps of countries such as Australia, France and Italy who have implemented and achieved 25 to 30 percent of women representation in Parliament on average.
“Political parties must acknowledge the gender bias in Malaysian politics and take considerable action to bridge the gap in prospects and resources between male and female candidates,” it said.
The 111 Initiative added that it strongly advocates for these changes to be made during the election preparation for GE15.
