Why 30% is a big deal

WHEN the 14th Parliament of Malaysia convenes its first meeting of the first session on June 25, around 16% of the Dewan Rakyat MPs will be women.

Women accounted for around 11% of all candidates in the recent general election. Based on the Election Commission’s electoral roll, women also make up 50.58% of our 14,968,229 registered voters. Eleven states and two federal territories actually have more female voters than male voters, namely Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Penang, Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Melaka, Johor and Sarawak, and the two federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. Selangor has the most number of female voters at 1.22 million.

Assuming the same proportion is applied to the voter turnout of 82.32%, it is likely that 6,232,390 Malaysian women took part in the May 9 polls.

So what do all these numbers mean? It means that not only did women play a crucial role in shaping voter concerns, and likely voting patterns in the lead-up to the general election, they very likely determined the historic outcome too. In other words, women were the margin of victory.

Today’s Pakatan Harapan government owes the women voters of Malaysia a huge debt of gratitude for making the seemingly impossible, possible.

There’s a paragraph on page 181 of the Pakatan Harapan manifesto which promised voters that at least 30% of policy makers would be women. It is one of the key commitments to women and girls in the areas of economy, health and social security, education, legal status and political participation.

It is the same commitment contained within the previous Pakatan Rakyat manifesto in 2013.

Let it be clear. This 30% is not a quota as we usually understand and have experienced in this country, where race and religion have often been seen to be more important than merit and experience.

This commitment to women is an overdue recognition of their value, abilities, competency and contributions to this country. It is a recognition that a system exists in which they are intentionally or unintentionally marginalised, exclu­ded and forgotten from consideration to be policy makers at the highest levels.

It is a promise to correct that unfairness and disparity.

So far, it doesn’t look very encouraging. Neither the current excos in Pakatan-ruled states nor the Cabinet have a minimum of 30% of qualified women as members. It is even possible that some state excos will probably just have a single woman on board.

Is it really that hard to find qualified women to be ministers and exco members? You only need eight in the case of the Cabinet.

Whenever the question is raised as to why women are woefully under-represented in government, the answer is always in the form of another question that is often asked as an indignant demand: “Are they qualified?”

The insistence for 30% of leadership and policy making positions does not come with a demand for exceptions to be made regarding the quality, competency and qualifications of the person for the job. It is also not about toke­nism, handouts or ticking a box.

Research shows that because the bar is set higher for women seeking public office than it is for men, those who actually run are more likely than men to possess qualities, such as integrity, competency, intelligence and expe­rience, sought after by both voters and those wanting to form a government.

The fact is that women candidates have to be better qualified than men in order to win elections.

It is interesting to note that every single woman that DAP fielded as a parliamentary and state assembly candidate won in the recent elections. More than half of the 27 candidates won with five-digit majorities.

Take a look at their CVs. The women who have made it to the Dewan Rakyat and state assemblies are skilled and credentialed professionals with proven track records either in their work or politics. They persisted, persevered and won.

The real issue isn’t about capability, qualifications or competency. It is about power.

Examples from around the world and in Malaysia itself prove that women’s participation and role in decision-making and designing public policies are highly beneficial and have a positive impact on people’s lives.

We don’t have to look far for such able people; imagine what Fuziah Salleh, MP for Kuantan, could do as a minister in charge of the environment?

The lack of women in policy making positions and political power has a cost to society. Women have a diversity of priorities which are often different to that of men. They are more likely to highlight health, community, environment, labour and welfare issues.

The fact is that everyone benefits with more women in power. Our continued growth, competitiveness and resilience depend on us being able to successfully harness and mobilise half of our population and talent capacity.

We just cheered at the appointment of our first female deputy prime minister. Perhaps one day we will mark the occasion of the first female chief minister and even, if I may dare imagine, celebrate the first woman as our prime minister. However, until the political participation gap is closed, women in Malaysia will be unable to meet their full potential, and we will be poorer as a result.

AZRUL MOHD KHALIB

Kuala Lumpur