Male resistance seen an obstacle to 30% seat quota for women

 

Women form only 15% of the current members of the Dewan Rakyat. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Advocates for more women in politics say resistance by male politicians might be a major obstacle to setting up a legal requirement for political parties to have women form 30% of their candidate lists.

The proposal to make this quota part of the law was mooted by Wanita Barisan Nasional recently.

Ong Bee Leng.

However, Ong Bee Leng, CEO of Penang Women’s Development Corporation, and University Sains Malaysia researcher Zaireeni Azmi said male politicians might feel entitled to their seats.

“It is about power,” said Zaireeni. Putting forward more women candidates would mean fewer men would have access to political power.

Zaireeni, who is with USM’s women and gender research unit, said increasing female representation by at least 30% has been discussed over the last four general election cycles.

Zaireeni Azmi.

The academic, who studies women’s representation in politics, added that she had heard politicians promising to increase women’s representation to match the population percentage.

“But they did not act on it,” she told FMT. “If you want to impose the quota on all political parties, do you think they will be happy to share the power? To put women as party presidents and vice presidents?”

Ong said some women politicians themselves might not support a quota by law. They might feel “short changed” and discredited by being given seats simply because of a quota.

According to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, legal gender quotas are mandated by the constitution in Burkina Faso, Nepal, the Philippines, and Uganda, and by electoral law in Belgium, Bosnia Herzegovina, Slovenia, France, and many parts of Latin America.

Ong said the legal quota would be the first step in setting the foundation for 30% women representation in politics, pointing out that women account for only 15% of Malaysia’s 222 MPs.

Zaireeni recounted her experience interviewing female MPs in 2018, where some opposed such a legal gender quota over the issue of meritocracy.

She pointed out that male political candidates were rarely questioned about their capabilities and credibilities, while women on the other hand were often subjected to such scrutiny.

Wo Chang Xi, a research associate at Sunway University, told FMT that the issue of women’s representation in politics was not a priority for voters. This, he said, contributed to the lack of buy-in from MPs for a gender quota law.

Politicians and political parties will cater to strong demands from the voters first, he added.

Chang also said the aversion towards all forms of affirmative action might be an issue with some political parties, especially those who advocate against racial quotas in Malaysia. - FMT