Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng was stunned when asked if Pakatan Harapan would make a conscious effort to appoint a woman as deputy chief minister.

“You stunned me on this one,” he said, but added that appointment of such positions must be discussed.

“We want this to be a natural process. Even in foreign and developed countries, we do not see a woman appointed as the DCM, you do not see this kind of post reserved for them.

“What you see is a quota system, where roles or spaces given to women are equal and fair; why stop at DCM post?” he asked.

Lim added that the intention of the 30 percent quota was to ensure women can compete for any post with their male counterparts.

“We should aim to have women at the highest posts, not just decorative pieces," he said at a press conference at the Penang legislative assembly today.

Lim said DAP amended the party’s constitution to allow 30 percent of elected posts to be filled by women, a move he described as “a progressive first step”.

He said this during the ‘Penang Goes Orange 2015’ annual campaign launch to raise public awareness on violence against women (VAW).

Accompanying Lim at the launch were Chong Eng ( photo ), the state executive councillor on youth and sports, women, family and community development, and several assemblypersons.

The campaign, first launched in 2008, is in conjunction with the United Nations '16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence’ event, from Nov 25 to Dec 10.

This year the state will be circulating 12,500 flyers in three languages about VAW, which contains the contact numbers of the various NGOs which support abused victims.

Meanwhile, Chong said it was more important to achieve 30 percent decision-makers who will make changes happen.

“It is equally important to stress these 30 percent women must have substantive knowledge in gender equality, as it will not help if they do not practise a gender agenda,” Chong said.

“In this aspect, if male decision-makers are gender sensitive and conscious, then they could play important roles in pushing for gender equality.

“This is why the United Nations also stressed the importance of identifying male champions in advocating gender equality and end violence against women,” she added.