The number of women parliamentarians has increased from 20 to 23 after the 11 th general election last Saturday, although women's groups are still dissatisfied over the low success rate of female candidates overall.

Of the successful women parliamentarians this time, 18 are from the Barisan Nasional (BN).

New faces include Puteri Umno chief Azalina Othman ( left ) who won uncontested in Pengerang, Johor, and religious scholar Mashitah Ibrahim ( right ) who won the Baling seat in Kedah amidst high-profile press coverage.

Other newcomers include MCA Johor Wanita chief Tan Ah Eng (Gelang Patah) and Gerakan Perak Wanita chief Tan Lian Hoe (Bukit Gantang).

BN's core women leaders and former cabinet ministers retained their seats with ease - Rafidah Abdul Aziz ( right ) in Kuala Kangsar, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil ( left ) in Lembah Pantai, Dr Ng Yen Yen in Raub and Dr Siti Zaharah Sulaiman in Paya Besar .

Three former MPs were dropped from the BN candidacy list, while three were moved to contest in state constituencies. The retired MPs are former minister Napsiah Omar, former deputy minister Zaleha Ismail and Sukinam Domo.

Opposition MPs

The opposition saw one new entrant in the form of PAS Muslimat chief Kalthom Othman who won in Pasir Puteh, Kelantan, making her the first PAS woman parliamentarian since Khatijah Sidek. PAS had fielded a record number of 10 candidates.

Also staying put in Parliament are DAP's female force comprising of Chong Eng (Bukit Mertajam, left ), Teresa Kok (Seputeh, right ) and Fong Po Kuan (Batu Gajah).

Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail retained Permatang Pauh by 590 votes after a tense recount yesterday.

The final tally brings female participation rate at the federal level up marginally from 10.3 percent to 10.5 percent, also taking into account the increase in parliamentary seats from 193 to 219 following last year's redelineation exercise.

However, the representation rate at both federal and state levels fell short of the 30 percent target that women's groups are eyeing.

Women's interests

In a statement today, a coalition of women's organisations said that, while the participation of women candidates was encouraging, only 40 (2.56 percent) of the 1,564 had been elected to state and parliamentary seats in Sunday's polls.

"This achievement is way below the global marker in attaining the 'critical mass' of 30 percent women's participation as elected representatives," said Womec executive director Maria Chin Abdullah.

She said the active participation of women at all decision-making levels is necessary for women's interests to be taken into account.

"Women's demand for legislative and policy changes became sidelined in Parliament, as shown in 1999 when we only had 20 women parliamentarians," she said.

As a result of this, a number of legal reforms advocated by women's groups have not been undertaken, she said.

Among their demands are:

  • Review and amend all laws that discriminate against women, for example laws relating to rape

  • Review, amend and standardise Islamic family law in all states

  • Implement effectively the Domestic Violence Act and pass the Sexual Harassment bill

  • Improve employment conditions, including providing child care facilities, promoting health and safety, as well as non-discriminatory practices at work

  • Introduce minimum wages in all sectors of employment.

    • Maria said premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should take into account all these issues, as he was a signatory to the Women's Agenda for Change in 1999 and had made a promise in 2000 to work towards gender equality in Malaysia by 2005.

    "It is also important for him to go beyond Muslim women's rights, as stated in the BN Manifesto (2004), as women of other faiths are also discriminated in many areas," she added.

    Womec was set up as a monitoring group to scrutinise the pledges of election candidates and to check if they encourage democratic participation and take into account issues of gender equality.

    Questionnaires were forwarded to all election candidates and the results of the survey are expected to be publicised soon.