KUCHING: After failing to fulfil its promise in the last state election to increase woman representation, the state Barisan Nasional (BN) must make up for it by introducing more women candidates in the coming general election.
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) senior lecturer Dr Jeniri Amir said the state BN had promised to have more women candidates in the May 7 state election but the promise was not fulfilled.
“BN chairman (Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem) had mentioned before the state election that there would be women candidates. However, come nomination day, there were none.
“There is clearly no political will to increase female representation in Sarawak. The state BN does not walk the talk in this regards,” Jeniri told The Borneo Post yesterday.
Jeniri reminded the state leadership that whatever promises made to the people must be kept.
“It is not a good attribute for BN leadership not to fulfil their promises like fielding more female candidates. The people are evaluating and keeping tabs on what the politicians are sayings. They must walk the talk,” said Jeniri.
On female Dayak leaders, Jeniri said there were many educated and very established Dayak leaders but until now, there was still a complete absence of female Dayak representation be it in the state assembly or in parliament.
“It is high time that state BN introduce female Dayak candidates who are really qualified. With the present political landscape, the state BN needs to present female
candidates who can articulate issues and ideas to engage in political debates and discourse in parliament,” said Jeniri.
Meanwhile, Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) women chief Dato Sri Doris Brodie, who is rumoured to be the party’s candidate choice in the coming general election, said she had no plans to stand.
“I have no plans to stand in the coming general election but I would love to see other Dayak women fielded,” she said.
Doris, who later came out with a statement on the issue, said it had been 54 years since there was a Dayak woman in the State Legislative Assembly.
“After Datuk Tra Zehnder, there is none until now. It is a long wait for Dayak Women. There are many Dayak women in politics now and they exist in all political parties. They hold positions in their specific parties but unfortunately none have made it to Parliament or the State Legislative Assembly,” she said.
She said opposition parties were a step ahead because they had been fielding Dayak women in past elections but BN component parties have yet to do so.
“I believe we have capable Dayak women in politics now but our biggest obstacles are male-centric mindset within our community. To remain relevant in politics even at the party level is not easy for women. We have to work twice if not thrice as hard and with limited resources to serve the people.”
“In PRS, we too have capable women as candidate material but opportunity for them to contest in elections may be bleak because of male dominance. Nonetheless, PRS Women’s Wing will continue to speak up and work hard to ensure that Dayak women will have representative(s) in Parliament and the State Legislative Assembly.”
“In my view, a male-centric mindset and male dominance are not healthy especially for the Dayak community because many, especially the younger generations and the professional Dayak women out there are watching; they may shy away from joining us in politics and prefer to join the opposition parties because opposition parties are more accommodating and open-minded towards giving women the opportunity to contest in state or general elections.”
She said in future, there would be more and more educated women because statistics showed that 65 per cent of those currently studying in colleges and universities were women.
“I am certain there are many Dayak women amongst them. If our community continues to be male-centric, we all are bound to lose because we will be left behind by other communities who have moved forward beyond gender (lines).
“Also, over the years, women voters continue to increase in numbers and I believe that women have been ‘king makers’ for BN in past elections. It is about time that more women are fielded by BN in the coming general election and future elections. We hope that Dayak women are amongst the new faces.”
Doris, a former senator, also said women had unique qualities and were natural care givers. If women were given a chance, they would make equally good elected representatives as men, if not better.