Political parties urged to field more women candidates
KUALA LUMPUR: Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia has urged political parties in the country to field more women candidates in the next general election to enable more women representatives in Parliament.
He said based on his experience as Speaker for nine years, it is found that women function most effectively as MPs.
“So I hope that political parties, whether government or opposition, woul d f ield mor e women candidates,” he told reporters after delivering a keynote address at the Commonwealth Women Parliamentary South East Asia Regional Seminar in Parliament yesterday.
Perhaps, there is a need to create more awareness among women and female students and women organisations regarding the work of a MP and persuade the educated ones to join politic. Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, Dewan Rakyat Speaker
Also present were deputy speaker of the Parliament of Singapore Lim Biow Chuan, chairman of Commonweal th Women Parliamentarians (CWP) Datuk Dr Noraini Ahmad and secretary general of Commonwealth Parl iamentary Association Akhbar Khan.
Pandikar also said the goal to attain the policy of 30 per cent women in the policy- making category in the public and private sectors would not be met if political parties were reluctant to increase the number of women candidates to represent their respective parties.
Earlier in his keynote address, Pandikar said there are only 2,086 or 19.4 per cent of women parliamentarians in Asia.
“Ther e fore, there i s an urgent need for you ( women parliamentarians) to engage your respective governments and persuade them to include and nominate more women as candidates during elections.
“Perhaps, there is a need to create more awareness among women and female students and women organisations regarding the work of a MP and persuade the educated ones to join politics,” he said.
He also suggested having CWP fundamentals programmes for new women parliamentarians in this region.
“Such a programme would be highly beneficial and contribute much towards all of our commitment towards achieving the highest standards of democratic governance,” he added.
Meanwhile, Noraini said the oneday CWP seminar was designed to provide an opportunity for members of the region to share experiences and gain knowledge on methods of capacity-building and policy-making within the real world setting.
This could be released through engaging interactive discussion sessions and networking opportunities with key stakeholders, she said. The programme focused on a range of themes covering legislation, committee management and engagement with civil society, international institutions and the private sector. — Bernama