Gerakan Wanita calls Pakatan counterpart copycat

Gerakan today pointed out part of the Pakatan Rakyat's election manifesto for women sounded awfully familiar.

In particular, it said the promise to provide RM50 a month for each housewife and compulsory contribution of RM10 to RM100 from husbands to wives, was something mooted by Gerakan in 2010.

Gerakan Wanita secretary Jayanthi Devi Balaguru (left) said that Gerakan Wanita had then called for the government to set up a Women's Provident Fund for abandoned families of all races.

This, she said, appeared to be "imitated by the women wings of Pakatan Rakyat".

Jayanthi added that the idea for the Women's Provident Fund was raised much earlier during a Gerakan Wanita conference in 2005.

"Gerakan Wanita was the first the resolve that upon marriage, the husband makes a compulsory contribution of a certain percentage of his earnings to the Women's Provident Fund (which) could be managed by the Employers Provident Fund or by an independent body."

'Amused that Pakatan out of ideas'

"Amused" that Pakatan is now trying to claim credit, she added that the call was reiterated in September 2010 and again in the national Gerakan conference in October the same year.

"I am in fact delighted that our persistent efforts and struggles to uphold and improve the welfare of women is being seconded by Pakatan," she said.

Cuttingly, she added that this showed that the women wings of Pakatan Rakyat are "bankrupt of original initiatives and ideas".

Pakatan's women wings yesterday launched the Agenda Wanita Malaysia, which was a version of its Buku Jingga election manifesto, focusing on the welfare and development of women.

Among others, Pakatan also promises to set up training and support centres for women nationwide and a commission to look at domestic violence and sexual assault against women.