LETTER | Sawo and Rakyat is Bos urge all parties to commit to appointing women as nominated assemblypersons to remedy gender imbalance upon forming the Sabah state government.

Article 14 of the constitution of the state of Sabah allows the state government to recommend the appointment of no more than six nominated members to the legislative assembly of Sabah by the Yang di-Pertua Negeri (TYT). The last government had appointed five such members, but all were men.

We are not surprised that in 2020 still not a single party contesting in the upcoming Sabah state election has met the international benchmark to nominate at least 30% women candidates. In fact, only eight of the 20 parties contesting nominated 10% or more of women candidates: Human Rights Party (20%), PKR (14.3%), DAP (14.3%), Warisan (13%), LDP (13%), Star (12.5%), PCS (11%) and Usno (10.6%)

This results in only 43 women candidates out of the 447 candidates, or 9.6%. More so, only voters from 32 constituencies have the chance to vote for a woman candidate. The two main blocs vying for state power, Warisan Plus and Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (BN, PN, PBS) nominated women candidates only in 13 constituencies.

Unless voters are willing to consider quality women candidates from the third parties or amongst the independents, the number of women assemblypersons would be at most 13 or 17.8% of the Sabah assembly. This means a minimum gap of 12.2% or nine assemblypersons or more from meeting the 30% international benchmark. If six women nominated assemblypersons are added to the 13, then women percentage in the state assembly would be raised to 24.1%. However, if six more men were to be nominated, the women percentage would further drop to 16.5%.

The need to have more women in the state legislative assembly does not only support gender equality or benefit only women. We believe that having more women in the political sphere would promote empowerment of women in decision-making in the family and community, in the workplace and ultimately in higher positions such as legislators. Strong women leaders often build strong communities and benefit society as a whole in the long run.

In a democratic system, legislators must come from various backgrounds to enable a wide array of issues to be brought to the table for discussion, consideration and proposal accordingly. As a progressive state proud of diversity and inclusion, it is a shame that Sabah is far behind in reaching at least 30% women participation in decision-making positions as targeted by the Malaysian government in the 9th Malaysia Plan 2006-2010.

Sabah must therefore stand out from being part of the sorry state of women under-representation in Malaysia, which ranks 140th in 192 countries surveyed for women representation in the national Parliament/lower house with a pathetic 14.4%. 

 Sabah must strive to be on par with countries like Australia (30%), Germany (30.9%) and Latvia (31%) if not higher like Sweden (47.3%), South Africa (42.7%) and Finland (41.5%) and not in the league of Cyprus (17.9%), Gabon (17.9%) and Turkey (17.4%). Women empowerment should be an integral part of Sabah’s regional identity as conservative forces are pushing Malaysia backwards.

This is why Sawo and Rakyat is Bos strongly urge parties to commit to appointing only women as nominated members after their blunders of nominating less than 20% of women. 

We should not disregard the fact that the minority groups’ interests and priorities are often shaped by their respective economic, social and ethnic differences. Without the participation of women, the legislative system in Sabah lacks the diverse backgrounds and life experiences which enable the legislators to shape policies for the advancement of these minority groups.

Last but not least, we also believe that having women involved in legislative decision-making has an enormous impact as it creates a means to reform and revise discriminatory laws against girls and women. We should not forget that women and children’s rights have never been the main concern of the state.

The Sabah Women's Action Resource Group (Sawo) strives for women's rights and gender equality while "Inisiatif Rakyat Is Bos" in an independent initiative formed by a group of Sabahans to promote issue-based discussions leading up to the 16th Sabah state election.

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