Having women leaders in parliament will mean greater diversity in terms of perspective and a more balanced viewpoint, says National Council of Women’s Organisation (NCWO) president Professor Emerita Tan Sri Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin. This, she adds, will lead to better decision-making and policies, bring progress and enrich the country.
Sharifah highlights that the number of women leaders in parliament – at 14.9% – is way too low.
“We’ve never gone even beyond 20% in the 65 years of independence even though there are many educated and highly-skilled, capable women produced through our education system.
“It’s unfortunate that political parties aren’t making use of this valuable resource and asset,” says Sharifah.
Research proves that having more women in leadership is beneficial, she says, citing the study What Kind of Leadership is Required in Times of Crises (Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University).
“The study reveals that characteristics and values such as collaboration, networking, relational skills, listening, caring and empathy – traditionally associated with women and considered their strengths – are what is required in leadership today.
“A different type of leadership is needed to progress and such skills will work well in this new world,” she says, adding that other countries have fulfilled their required quotas for women leaders in parliament, and taken affirmative action to place more women in leadership because they realise the advantage of diversity in the decision-making process.
“It’s time that Malaysia step up and make full use of its dearth of resources so as not to be left behind,” she adds.
Sharifah highlights that mentoring is also necessary to ensure women are well-prepared to assume leadership positions in their respective parties.
“Women’s wings in political parties must adopt a ‘women help women’ agenda where they are seen not as competitors but as allies,” she says.
Challenges women face
Universiti Utara Malaysia associate professor Dr Ummu Atiyah Ahmad Zakuan who is also author of Women In The House – Leadership In The Malaysian Parliament, reveals that there are many challenges that prevent women from rising in politics and parliament.
Dr Ummu, who is on the Gender Budget Group academic team, says that when people see women only in their traditional submissive gender roles, it makes it more difficult for women to rise up and become leaders.
In her study The Empowerment of Women in Political Parties and Offices (Feb - March 2022), 109 women members and leaders at various positions across 20 political parties nationwide were surveyed.
These women were revealed to have experienced or observed the following in their respective political parties: 61% of women were expected to prepare food, take minutes and clean party premises; 46.6% of women were seen as less capable, 56.3% of men were seen as more qualified to be leaders, 47.6% of women were given less significant positions, 55.3% noted unwillingness to promote women as leaders; and 52.5% saw an unfavourable environment for women to be involved in party programmes.
“Political activities might also not be women-friendly to those who also carry the additional roles of wife, mother and family caregiver. Working late nights, over weekends, and having no childcare facilities can be a challenge for women involved in political activities,” she adds.
Ummu says that party structures that are hierarchical and segregated make it difficult to move up.
“When you have women’s wings or women’s youth wings, the segregation makes the road to leadership difficult.
“Even though a large percentage of the party members may be capable and hardworking women, this isn’t translated into the party leadership or election candidates and the top leadership positions in the party are still dominated by men,” she says.
Having said all that, Ummu highlights the importance of women empowering and improving themselves with confidence, public speaking skills and knowledge on national issues so that they can be ready to take on positions of leadership.
Ummu highlights the importance of having women champion certain issues in parliament, such as sexual violence against women and children.
“Women MPs stress the importance of expanding the definition of rape, and seek more severe punishment – heavier penalties and longer imprisonment – for sexual violence, especially for those who rape the disabled, elderly and children.
“While men MPs also speak out against sexual violence, their angle is different and might not be directly related to the issue. They emphasise raiding shops that sell/promote pornographic materials, censoring X-rated content, etc.
“Because men don’t usually experience it personally, when they speak about women’s issues, it is often taken lightly like a joke,” she says.
Solutions to the system
At the recent “Driving the Reality of Increasing Women’s Representation in the 15th General Election and the Legislative Body” forum officiated by Women, Family and Community Development minister Datuk Seri Rina Harun, leaders from the different political parties were all committed to the target of fielding 30% women candidates in the elections in order to increase female representation in the country’s legislative bodies.
While the various political parties are all in favour of 30% women representation in GE15, Lembah Pantai member of parliament Fahmi Fadzil (a member of the former parliamentary special select committee on women, children and social development) highlights that this doesn’t automatically translate to more women leaders in parliament because of Malaysia’s first-past-the-post electoral system.
“In Malaysia, we have the first-past-the-post and not proportional representation electoral system.
“So even if we put in 30% women candidates, it doesn’t necessarily translate to 30% representation in parliament eventually,” says Fahmi.
There are several ways to resolve this, he proposes.
“Firstly, the state assembly has to create Adun (assemblymen) positions specifically for women, and they are appointed after the elections, such as what is happening in Penang,” he says.
“Secondly, another way of doing it which is not immediately possible is to have a proportional representation instead of the first-past-the-post electoral system.
“This means people vote for a party, then the party has a list and depending on the percentage of the votes, each party gets a number of seats and they can then allocate 30% of the seats they get to women in the party,” he adds.
Fahmi reveals that both his maternal and paternal grandparents were involved in politics.
“In fact, my late maternal grandmother Hajah Hawa Musa came from a time when the women’s wing was known as Kaum Ibu, and she was responsible for helping to build the Kuala Kangsar division of Umno, paving the way for Rafidah Aziz to contest there.
“At that time, having women legislators and parliamentarians was not as how we understand it today. We’ve come a long way since then.
“The trailblazers like the late (Tan Sri Datin Paduka Seri) Hajah Aishah (Haji Ghani) and my late grandmother, who were women politicians and ahead of their time, helped consolidate the presence and participation of women in politics and in parliament.
“Today, we’re at the stage where we can build further, and build upon what they’ve done,” he says.
Gender responsive perspective
Engender Consultancy advocacy and operations manager Lisa Fernandes says that when we invest in women, there is a “multiplier effect”.
“Global evidence has shown that when we invest in women, the positive effects are seen and felt within their families, communities and the larger economy.
“In the same way, many of our women leaders bring to the forefront, not just issues that concern women, but also problems and solutions across all segments of the population with an inclusive, gender-lens based on their lived realities and grassroots engagement,” she says.
“It’s important to have not just women in leadership roles, but women who are gender-sensitive and actively promote gender equality, who have a progressive mindset, and believe in empowering other women, challenging the status quo, and leading by example,” she adds.
Fernandes cites a recent World Development study conducted across 182 countries, Women’s Political Empowerment and Economic Growth (Dahlum, S, Knutsen, CH and Mechkova, V, 2022) which shows that women’s political empowerment is positively related to subsequent GDP per capita growth.
“We need now more than ever to have more women and men leaders who champion gender equality to push for a gender-responsive response to expedite our economic recovery, and build a sustainable and prosperous Malaysia for generations to come,” she concludes.