Chance for radical change, but will we take it?

 A woman PM may be what Malaysia needs now, but while Nurul Izzah Anwar is the first to have come this close to the top, the odds are still heavily stacked against her.

Nurul Izzah Anwar is now just a heartbeat away from the power centre in Malaysia.

As deputy president of the party that now has the key to the chief executive’s office in Putrajaya, it is only a matter of time before the door opens for her.

Okay, we may be getting ahead of ourselves. This is Malaysia and things like this don’t happen … “thing” as in a woman being sworn in as prime minister.

But let us put our preconceptions aside. Let us imagine, for one second, that we, as a people, are open to all possibilities.

Let us say that everything falls into place, and all the political stars and planets align in Nurul Izzah’s favour.

That Pakatan Harapan (PH) wins enough seats in the next general election to form the government without having to count on the support of others like Barisan Nasional (BN).

That PKR remains its lynchpin, and current party president and prime minister Anwar Ibrahim steps aside as he has indicated that he would upon passing 80. For the record, Anwar is 77 now.

But to become the country’s first woman prime minister, Nurul Izzah will also need to have her father Anwar Ibrahim hand the job directly to her.

And at both levels are challenges that will prove difficult, if not impossible, for her and her family to surmount.

Nepotism is often used to discredit political leaders but is still widely practised, nonetheless.

Political leaders have often groomed their sons for high office. Sons like Mukhriz Mahathir, Hishammuddin Hussein, Najib Razak, Lim Guan Eng and Khairy Jamaluddin have experienced a meteoric rise in politics thanks in no small part to their fathers Mahathir Mohamad, Hussein Onn, Razak Hussein, Lim Kit Siang and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Alright, Khairy is actually a son-in-law, but don’t we see a pattern here? Lineage paves the way to the top in Malaysian politics, and anyone who cries “nepotism” be warned.

But having the PM job passed directly from father to daughter may be too much to take, even for those who have closed one or both eyes to the practice of nepotism in the political arena.

That brings us to Nurul Izzah’s greater challenge: her gender. Chauvinism is deeply rooted in Malaysian politics. The fact that practically every major political party in the country has a woman’s wing tells the story.

You have your little niche, do your own thing, stay where you are, let the boys run the big show.

Worse than corporate Malaysia, women have never been able to break that proverbial glass ceiling in politics.

The opposition to her mother Wan Azizah Wan Ismail’s possible appointment as Selangor menteri besar years ago speaks for itself.

Rafidah Aziz, dynamic as she was, never rose beyond Wanita Umno chief. From first chairman Rosemary Chong to the seventh and current leader Wong You Fong, Wanita MCA chiefs have been content to remain where they are.

It is no different for Nurul Izzah. She may have made it on her own steam — which she probably has, from her days leading the Reformasi movement protesting her father’s imprisonment for sexual misconduct, which the family maintains are trumped-up charges.

But for all their protestations and boast about gender equality, men guard their dominance in politics very closely, mostly to our detriment.

We have had 10 prime ministers since independence — all men. Where has that left us?

We are behind most of our neighbours in terms of economic development. Our currency is losing its shine, corruption is rampant, and political infighting has driven investors elsewhere.

Perhaps a woman can offer a breath of fresh air. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.