PETALING JAYA: There is little political will to increase women’s representation in Malaysian politics – and civil society groups are now ramping up pressure on the government to make it mandatory to ensure at least 30% of decision-making roles go to women.
They want the proposed law, the Gender Parity in Political Representation Act (GPPRA), also known as Akta Projek 30%, to be tabled and passed as soon as possible.
Association of Women Lawyers (AWL) treasurer Azira Zainal said the proposed law was drafted after years of slow progress in fulfilling repeated promises by policymakers to ensure at least 30% women representation in decision-making roles.
“We need to move away from the question of political will. If we just rely on political will, nothing is going to happen,” Azira told a press conference on the campaign yesterday.
“Since the 1960s there have been calls made to increase representation of women in politics, but the political will is still lacking.”
ALSO READ : Women leaders want more than a quota
Currently, only five of the 32 members of the Malaysian Cabinet (15.6%) are women, although Malaysia committed to the 30% benchmark 30 years ago.
In 1995, the government ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw) and signed the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
At the current pace, Azira said it would take another 135.6 years to achieve the 30% mark in the Dewan Rakyat.
Even though females make up half the population, only 13.5% of MPs are female compared to the global average of 27.5%.
Only 18.9% are women in the Dewan Negara followed by 12% of elected representatives in state assemblies and 19.7% of local councillors nationwide.
Malaysia also ranks 128th out of 148 countries in the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Gender Gap Index for political empowerment.
The proposed Akta Projek 30% is a joint campaign by AWL along with Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor (Empower), Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG), CSO Platform for Reform (CSOP4R), and Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih).
Under the proposal, political parties would also be required to report on policies and initiatives aimed at increasing women’s participation in leadership and decision-making structures.
An independent governing body would oversee the implementation of the Act and manage reporting mechanisms that would be reviewed by Parliament and made public.
Azira said international examples show that legislated quotas are effective in accelerating women’s political participation.
She pointed to Mexico, where gender parity law was introduced in 2014, which saw women making up 50% of Parliament. A female president was also elected.
“Countries with laws mandating quotas have seen women’s participation increase much faster, sometimes within just two election cycles,” she said.
Empower executive director Gopalan-K Papachan said entrenched male dominance remains a major obstacle to reform.
“The problem is the lack of will within political parties. When you peel back the layers, it comes down to male domination, male hegemony and stereotypes about women’s leadership.”
Gopalan said women are often excluded from key decision-making processes within political parties, with males still dominating candidate selection committees.
The lack of women in political leadership has contributed to gaps in policies involving healthcare, equal pay, childcare, gender-based violence and economic participation, say the NGOs.
A forum titled “Making 30% a Reality” will be held on June 22 at the Royal Selangor Club in Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur followed by a walk to hand over a memorandum to Parliament.
