opinion

It has been awhile since Umno was calm and confident in facing a by-election. Past events have shown that a by-election, be it state or parliamentary, has always been a major headache for the party.

But in the case of the recently concluded Indera Kayangan state assembly by-election in Perlis, the opposition coalition Barisan Alternatif was in disarray.

DAP could not help Keadilan because the party had exited BA while PAS was reluctant to help as it has come under much fire especially from its Chinese-based former ally DAP for its Islamic state ambition.

This eventually led to the ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional, scoring a thumping victory over the Keadilan candidate.

PAS, in the run-up to the by-election, was fiercely attacked by the powers that be. The Muslim party was even likened to the Taliban and accused of repressing women.

Obviously PAS is viewing the situation seriously. On Jan 24, the PAS ulama consultative council proposed that the party field women candidates for the coming general elections.

Party president and parliamentary opposition leader Fadzil Noor said the council will allow women to be picked as candidates to dispel criticism that PAS was opposed to the betterment of women in the country.

He said PAS did not nominate women candidates for past general elections due to political considerations and the situation then.

Fiery orator

The last PAS woman member of parliament was Khatijah Sidek, in 1959. Another woman, Salmah Hussein, had contested on a PAS ticket for a parliamentary seat in 1969 but lost.

Prior to joining PAS, Khatijah was the Umno women's wing chief.

At the 1953 Umno general assembly, the vociferous orator fought for greater representation for women at the national level.

Her approach made her a controversial figure in the eyes of the conservative party leadership which was not prepared to allow a bigger role for women.

Khatijah was labelled as hot-headed and too much of a radical for Umno a party which places a high premium on moderation, compromise and avoidance of open conflict.

It was this fiery demeanour that led to her dismissal. She later joined PAS and became its Wanita chief. She won a parliamentary seat in the country's inaugural general elections.

Extremist perception

Back to the present, could PAS' recent call for greater women involvement be an attempt to undo the 'extremist' perception?

Whatever PAS' reasons may be, the party's latest move is definitely open to various interpretations.

As Indera Kayangan has shown, even in the PAS stronghold of Sungai Bakau, there has been a switch in Malay Malaysian support, which went to the opposition during the 1999 general elections.

However, almost 62 percent of the Malay electorate in Sungai Bakau voted for BN during the recent by-election.

Whereas initial findings revealed that about 70 percent of the Chinese electorate in Indera Kayangan voted for the BN candidate.

For this reason, there is a possibility that PAS may delay discussing publicly the party's blueprint on the Islamic state, which had been pronounced ready a couple of months ago.

There may even be last-minute provisions to be included with regard to women participation in politics, in line with the party's latest decision.

PAS has realised that not fielding women candidates has eroded support from this group for the party.

It is a well-known fact that women make up more than half of the Malaysian electorate.

Umno, on the other hand, knew the importance of women support. The party, which was in dire need of young blood, formed a new women's wing, Puteri Umno, to recruit more younger women into its fold.

Puteri Umno's creation was also seen as a move to compensate the 'less energetic' Umno Youth. Many of the latter's potential leaders left Umno to join Keadilan after the dismissal and subsequent jailing of ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.

To date, Puteri Umno, helmed by lawyer Azalina Othman, has recruited more than 100,000 new members.

This was a wake-up call for the opposition.

New generation

PAS' women section were only there to help the party leadership garner support during general elections. They were heavily involved in campaigning, but were not given the opportunity to become candidates.

For PAS, this is how it has been since the 1970s. Nobody dared to question the party's stand on the position of women members.

Only recently the new generation of PAS women leaders have started to do so.

Women leaders, such as Dr Lo'Lo' Ghazali, Jamilah Ibrahim and Zainab Ibrahim, have taken the initiative to highlight the importance of women members being given equal opportunity in the party, including contesting in general elections.

Being a political party which claims to struggle for the Islamic cause, PAS has always been cautious in handling women affairs.

The women are expected to adhere to the Islamic teachings, which do not allow them to move freely without the permission of their husbands. This has been the main reason used by the PAS leadership to limit women participation in the party.

The women were told that their first priority is to take good care of their families. Their activities in the party must be approved by their husbands. As such it is not appropriate for women to become people's representatives as the jobs would involve visiting their constituencies even at odd hours.

The recent decision to allow women to be selected as candidates, means the above restriction would not matter anymore.

It will be interesting to see how PAS will rationalise its latest move.