30 years after Beijing – Where are the women in Malaysian politics?

WE, the undersigned, call upon the Malaysian government and Opposition parties at both federal and state levels to introduce party-list seats with a gender quota. Malaysia is the Asean Chair in 2025, yet we embarrassingly rank ninth in women’s parliamentary representation in South-East Asia.

Malaysia should consider emulating Thailand and Taiwan where their Parliament has closed list proportional representation (CLPR) seats with a gender quota in parallel with first-past-the-post (FPTP) seats. This can guarantee a minimum percentage of women representation.