Don't use women as bait, BN told

A non-governmental organisation has slammed the use of scantily-clad women in an attempt to fish for votes.

While there is nothing wrong with their clothes and gyrations to the music, it was however a sad reflection of how BN objectifies women and uses them to pull in the crowd, said the Selangor Community Awareness Association (Empower).

"Such performances have been derogatorily named as 'cat-shows'," said Empower president Maria Chin Abdullah in a statement today.

She also took newly elected Umno vice-president and deputy minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to task for justifying such acts as being part of the Chinese culture. [VIDEO l 2 mins]

"It goes to show that Zahid and BN politicians have a poor grasp of women’s rights and cultural issues," she said.

Maria was responding to a performance organised by BN at a fishing village in Bukit Gantang, where women in skimpy outfits were deployed to entertain the predominantly Chinese audience.

This was part of the campaign for tomorrow's by-election for the Bukit Gantang parliamentary seat which will see ousted Perak menteri besar Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin and BN's Ismail Saffian as well as independent Kamarul Ramizu Idris.

Encouraging a 'sexist culture'

Meanwhile, Empower also expressed outrage over BN's 'sensationalised and sexualised politicking', citing the circulation of a booklet highlighting Pakatan Rakyat assemblyperson Elizabeth Wong's nude photo scandal.

Maria described this as an "insult to the dignity and humanity of all Malaysians."

By using women to lure voters, she said, BN is enabling and encouraging a sexist culture that is insulting to both men and women.

"The implicit message that they send is that women are inferior, insignificant and their bodies are only useful to attract voters. In all the by-elections, we have failed time and again to hear what their plans are to encourage young women in those constituencies to become political leaders.

"Women form 50 percent of the electorate and are full partners in development. Their political aspirations to be politicians should be taken seriously," she said.

Maria noted that BN failed to learn its lesson after Carol Chew lost in her bid to be MP for Seputeh during the March 8 elections after displaying sexist banners of DAP rival Teresa Kok.

"The BN government is legally obligated under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Cedaw) to improve the status of women. It made commitments to the Human Rights Council of the UN to improve women's rights.

"Article 8(2) of the Federal Constitution was amended to forbid discrimination against women, and the BN government provided in the Ninth Malaysian Plan that it would have 30 percent women in decision making positions," she said.

"The BN government must show that it will deliver on its promises and fulfil the legitimate expectation of women that they should not be exploited or discriminated," she added.