WOMEN do not need their own women-only political party, but for society and government to accept them in positions of power so that they can promote issues that have been sidelined, civil society groups said.

Female representation at the top echelons of political parties and decision-making positions is low, and they must be structurally and systemically allowed to rise to these posts, said Rusni Tajari, senior advocacy officer at the Women’s Aid Organisation.

“We need better representation, and to have women of calibre as part of policy-making processes. Women’s issues are, after all, everyone’s issues, as we make up half the population.”

The All Women’s Action Society (Awam) added that Malaysia’s current women leaders need to champion relevant and gender-based issues instead of toeing political party lines.

“We need leaders who take a stance and be outspoken about these issues instead of being inclined to the party’s interests.”

Malaysia still too patriarchal

There have been women-specific parties throughout history, but it is admittedly a little-studied phenomenon.

In Malaysia, Awam said society is ingrained to think of men as natural leaders, which will make it difficult for a women-specific party to thrive.

In a survey done in August titled Women’s Participation in Malaysian Politics conducted by Awam and Cent-GPS with 118 female respondents from 12 political parties, 78% of respondents agreed that the public is more likely to vote for male candidates rather than female ones.

“This patriarchy needs to be done away with in order to prepare Malaysia for women’s leadership. In the meantime, we must constantly challenge this patriarchy and the women’s party is one method of doing so.”

But Pajari said having such a party now may derail what little women’s representation there is in the country.

“As it stands, we aren’t seeing enough women political figures amplified and platformed; there are many challenges within our electoral system, which is another impediment to raising the number of female political leaders. What more to have a stand-alone women’s party.”

She said for women to stand any chance of having a fair shot at politics and being fielded as candidates in elections, there needs to be a mental shift in the community that women are not only home makers but also strong leaders.

In September this year, Deputy Women, Family and Community Minister Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff said 38.2% of decision-making positions in government ages are held by women. It has been federal policy since 2004 for at least 30% of such positions in the public sector to be filled by women. Some MPs, however, want this percentage to be legislated.

As for female leaders in the business world, the Grant Thornton annual Women in Business report said in March this year that the number of women holding senior leadership positions in Malaysia had increased to 37% from 31% last year.

This includes women in C-suite roles, such as chief finance officers, chief marketing officers and chief information officers. There was a slight drop, however, in the number of women holding chief executive officer positions.

The problem of elevating women leaders and candidates, then, is most acute in political parties.

In Parliament, only 15% of 220 MPs are women. All the major political parties are also currently led by men.

Risk of becoming elitist, exclusive

Tenaganita community liaison officer Elise Arya Chen cautioned that a women-specific party may end up being an elitist venture.

But she agreed there would be advantages to having such a party.

“(A women’s party) would be useful as women’s issues are trivialised, especially because a lot of these issues related to women involve safety and wellbeing, not just liberation and privilege.

“This is half of the population that is being held back,” she said.

It may also be worthwhile as the current ministry in charge of women’s affairs, the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, is inundated by other issues as well, she added.

Chen, however, said the venture could risk becoming a party only for privileged women, when it is vulnerable women who need their voices amplified.

“My worry with a party like this is whether it will become elitist. We talk about progressiveness, but it may end up with people with money and power.

“Those who really need representation are the domestic workers, single mothers, people who have really struggled.”

To prevent it from becoming elitist, Chen said grooming vulnerable women into future leaders is important.

“You want to bring a lot of these women into the party to become representatives and politicians.”

Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah said even if there is a women-specific party, it would be ridiculous for them to champion only women’s issues to the exclusion of others.

“I think that a women’s party should champion Malaysian issues.

“If I win (in an election), do I just champion women and forget the rest? We can’t do that,” she said.

She said while the emphasis can be on women’s issues, a party must represent all people and recognise that gender discrimination extends to both sexes.

“So, we can’t just look at the women, and forget the husbands and the children.”

Issues in need of immediate action

Pajari said the government needs to quickly come up with reforms to address violence against women, such as the Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill, anti-stalking laws, the Gender Equality Act, and also to implement Gender Responsive Budgeting.

She added that there is also a need to immediately address the gender inequality gap that has arisen due to the Covid-19.

Awam said that there is dire need to increase the number of women in the labour workforce.

“Malaysia’s gender gap in the workforce is ranked globally at 104 with a score of 0.6387 in 2021. This is relatively low, considering that Malaysian women’s higher educational attainment is higher than men.

“Improve workplace policies to create a substantive work environment for women so that they do not miss out on opportunities for employment and career advancement.” – October 31, 2021.