Will more women represent Sarawak in the Parliament after the 14th General Election (GE14)? Malaysian women, especially Sarawak women, are under-represented in politics and in the Parliament. Although the number of women elected to the Malaysian Parliament has increased from 1.9 per cent in 1955 to 11.3 per cent in 2008 and 10.8 per cent in 2016, the number is far from satisfactory. Out of 222 Parliamentary seats contested in the last General Election (GE13), women were elected to only 23.
Do you know that this places Malaysia at the second last place in South East Asia in terms of women’s representation in Parliament? Based on the statistics provided by researchers, representation of women is highest in Timor-Leste (38.5%), followed by Laos (25%), Vietnam (24.4%), Singapore (24.2%), Philippines (22.9%), Cambodia (20.3%), Indonesia (18.6%) and Thailand (15.8%). According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Malaysia is ranked 156th out of 190 countries in terms of women’s representation in Parliament.
Why should more women sit in the Parliament? What can women do there? According to the National Democratic Institute, a non-partisan, non-profit organisation in the United States of America that works with partners in developing countries to increase the effectiveness of democratic institutions, women politicians are highly committed to promoting policies for marginalised groups and particularly effective in promoting honest governance which is linked to lower levels of corruption.
It also argues that women are strongly linked to positive developments in education, infrastructure and health at local levels and are strongly committed to peace building. Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamid has hinted that Barisan Nasional will field more women candidates in GE14. Zahid, who is also BN Deputy Chairman, believed that women should be the backbone of Malaysia’s politics. He pointed out that the ruling BN government had constantly pushed for women to be fielded as candidates in the election.
Zahid added that women empowerment was useless if their voice was not heard in politics. How true this is! One woman Minister who hopes that 30 per cent of the BN candidates in GE14 will be women is Women, Family and Community Minister, Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim from Sarawak. Rohani, who is Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Wanita Deputy Chief, has revealed that every BN component party chairman has been advised to consider fielding women candidates in the General Election. She added that most of the BN component parties had reacted positively to the advice. But the final decision, Rohani said, would only be known on Nomination Day, April 28.
Meanwhile, President of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), a BN component party in Sarawak, Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing has reaffirmed that the party will field one or two women candidates in GE14. He said PRS aimed to break the Dayak tradition by fielding the first woman BN parliamentary candidate. Masing added his party had already made history by allowing Dato Sri Sophia Brodie as Deputy President of the Senate before.
In Sarawak, the incumbent for the Tanjung Manis parliamentary seat, Datuk Norah Abdul Rahman from Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), a BN component party, has announced she will not be defending her seat in GE14. It is hoped that BN will nominate a woman candidate for the seat on Nomination Day. In Sarawak, 31 parliamentary seats are up for grabs in GE14. Being nominated is the first step to Parliament. After being nominated, the candidate has to be elected in order to sit there. This is the big challenge facing all candidates in GE14. On April 6, Chief Minister, Datuk Patinggi (Dr) Abang Johari Tun Openg disclosed that the BN list of candidates of GE14 had “more or less” been finalised. He said he had also discussed the list with Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. The list, he added, would see new faces from the state BN component parties, including those from PBB. It is hoped the new faces will also include a few, if not many, women. Now, I can’t wait for Nomination Day and Polling Day.
