NGOs call for law to ensure more women in Parliament, state assemblies

KUALA LUMPUR: Representatives from four NGOs, including electoral reform group Bersih, marched today to Parliament where they submitted a memorandum calling for a new law to increase women’s representation in the lower house and state assemblies.

The proposed legislation, under the “Projek 30%” initiative, requires political parties to field at least 30% women candidates in parliamentary and state elections.

Currently, only 30, or 13.5%, of the 222 seats in Parliament are held by women.

The proposed law would also require political parties to report their policies and initiatives to promote women to leadership positions, while an oversight body was proposed to monitor compliance and administer incentives.

The other NGOs were Empower, Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG), and CSO Platform for Reform.

The participants, numbering about 50, handed the memorandum over to five MPs – DAP’s Yeo Bee Yin and Syerleena Abdul Rashid, PAS’s Mumtaz Nawi, Bersatu’s Zakri Hassan and PKR’s Rodziah Ismail.

The MPs proposed that Malaysia conduct a gender audit of the national budget, going beyond existing gender-sensitive budgeting to examine whether government spending reflects the needs of the wider population.

They said discussions could be held with the finance and economy ministries to push for reforms that incorporate gender considerations into policymaking and budget planning.

Earlier, former Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto said discussions on women’s political representation should not focus only on whether women entering politics through quotas were qualified, but should also examine the standards and accountability of existing political leadership.

“Malaysians have a very bad experience with quotas,” she said at a forum held before the march to Parliament.

Kasthuri, of DAP, said discussions around quotas remain sensitive because of negative perceptions linked to previous quota systems.

She said female politicians often faced higher expectations and greater scrutiny compared to their male counterparts, and disagreements involving female politicians were sometimes framed through sexist narratives.

She also said sexist remarks and conservative attitudes in Parliament reflected the need to reassess political culture and ensure decision-making included wider perspectives.

“Women’s representation is not about replacing men, but about creating a more balanced and effective decision-making process for all Malaysians,” she said.