KUCHING, March 8: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan) Sarawak urged the government to set a minimum requirement of 30 per cent for women’s participation in the political arena which includes the Parliament, State Legislative Assembly, City Hall, government departments and statutory bodies.
Keadilan Sarawak secretary Cherishe Ng, in a press statement today, said women’s rights should not be an empty political slogan but an active participation in politics of women of various racial groups.
She said only then could the said goal be achieved.
“As one of the signatories of Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Malaysia is far from achieving the required target of 30 per cent women’s participation in public offices.
“Taking the Parliamentarians for example, out of a total of 222 representatives only 33 of them are women which is equivalent to less than 15 per cent of the total numbers.
“Such a reality shows there’s still a long way towards achieving a substantive women’s participation in politics and public affairs,” she said.
Ng pointed out that Keadilan is aware of the obstacles faced by women and has begun initiating the “30 per cent Women’s Representation Drive” as early as 2017 during the fourth session of its annual general meeting requiring the party’s organisation from grassroots division to the executive central committee to reserve a minimum of 30 per cent representation for women members.
According to her, Article 5.14 of Keadilan’s Constitution reaffirms the rights for women, it stipulates the recognition of women’s importance as the pillar and motivation force for nation building.
“Besides, we are also pursuing the reservation of 30 per cent of decision-making posts in government and statutory bodies for women so that more women of good capabilities could take the helm of influential positions,” she said. — DayakDaily
