With reference to your news report, ' Aye' to women Islamic judges , the All Women's Action Society (Awam) welcomes the news that the National Fatwa Council has cleared the way for women to be appointed as Syariah judges.

Awam congratulates the National Fatwa Council for its decision. The appointment of women as syariah judges is in line with Malaysia's ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (Cedaw) in 1995 and the government's stated commitment to meet its obligations. Among these commitments is a 30% target of women in political and public decision-making bodies.

The decision of the Council shows that Islam does not discriminate against the sexes, that the many rules imposing rigid gender roles are in fact man-made. Many such gender roles and stereotypes are now being re-examined, in the face of better acknowledgment of women's human rights as well as more freedom for both women and men to realise their real potential within Malaysian society.

For example, the assumption that women cannot be in positions of authority because they are prone to be irrational and emotional is now largely a thing of the past. We are now at a point where we can see how these stereotypes limit women from claiming their rights as citizens, thus shutting the door on participation in public decision-making.

With this in mind, we take strong objections to the remarks by the Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob, for his remark that women should not 'ask for things which do not make sense, such as wanting to be prime minister'. In your report Pahang MB: We are not ready for woman PM , he goes on to say that women's organisations' 'demands' should be based on facts and realities.

With greatest respect to Adnan, any 'demand' that full recognition of the rights of women to participate in politics including the highest office in government is in fact rooted in the reality of today's world. Chile recently inaugurated a woman president, Michelle Bachelet, who appointed a cabinet composed of equal numbers of women and men. Bangladesh and New Zealand both have elected women prime ministers, while Germany's current chancellor is Angela Merkel.

We commend MP Karpal Singh (Bukit Gelugor) for reminding the public of this fact ( Karpal slams Adnan for 'woman' remark ). We especially appreciate his statement pointing out that the Malaysian Parliament has, among its ranks, competent women MPs. It is regrettable that a menteri besar still sees fit to make a pronouncement so at odds with reality. We are pleased, however, that he did not completely dismiss the possibility of a woman prime minister in Malaysia.

Awam is pleased to see that the National Fatwa Council is taking part in the process of re- examination and making itself relevant to the realities of women's lives in Malaysia. We caution, however, that the appointment of women Syariah judges is up to the individual states to implement. Only Selangor has so far appointed a woman Syariah judge to serve in its Syariah lower courts, in April 2006. In this, we share Sisters in Islam's disappointment that substantial results have been slow to materialise amidst years of discussion over the issue, by religious authorities and women's groups alike.

We emphasise that the criteria for appointment as a Syariah judge should be the same for both women and men. In promoting the participation of women in the public decision-making, opening up access to a particular public institution must be followed by the abolition of existing discriminatory practices.

Awam also hopes that the National Fatwa Council's decision will pave the way for the Malaysian government to remove its reservation to Article 7(b) of Cedaw, wherein states parties to the convention are obligated to ensure the right of women to participate fully at all levels of government and the judiciary. This was deemed to be inconsistent with provisions in Syariah law regarding the appointment of women to certain public offices within state Islamic religious bodies.

The writer is president, All Women's Action Society (Awam).