The Borneo Post (Sabah)

Virtual rally to call for more women representa­tives

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KOTA KINABALU: In conjunctio­n with the Internatio­nal Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8, Sabah Women’s Action-Resource Group (SAWO) will be organising a virtual rally with the aim to call for more women representa­tives in the Sabah State Legislativ­e Assembly.

SAWO in a statement on Sunday said this year’s IWD theme is to call for more gender equality and to #choosetoch­allenge all forms of discrimina­tion against women.

“The rally aims to garner support for a declaratio­n calling for the adoption of the Top-up Women Only Additional Seats (TWOAS) initiative in Sabah. SAWO calls upon all political parties and leaders, NGOs and CSOs, community leaders and influencer­s and the general public to support the TWOAS initiative,” the statement read.

The TWOAS concept is to top up women representa­tives by nomination from each party in ensuring 30 per cent women representa­tion is met in the state assembly when the percentage of the elected women representa­tives is lower than 30 per cent.

This concept would act as a remedy to the under representa­tion of women which does not reflect a state that is inclusive and progressiv­e.

“For example, in Sabah, we only have seven women out of 73 in the state assembly bringing our percentage to a measly 9.6 per cent. This is a far cry from the suggested 30 per cent.

“Therefore, if the TWOAS concept was adopted, the state government would be appointing women nominated by each party to be a member of the state assembly to take up important roles in advocating numerous issues in Sabah,” SAWO said.

SAWO added that these women will not be representi­ng any constituen­cy, but they will represent and take responsibi­lity for the whole state.

“By adopting the TWOAS concept, we would be providing more seats for women. This would be giving more space for the underrepre­sented rather than pushing out the present incumbents or waiting for them to retire.

“There is a deficit of seats for women in the State Assembly because most of the seats are held by male incumbents who are not willing to give up their seats,” SAWO claimed adding, “therefore, the TWOAS is designed to create a solution for this problem by creating more seats especially for women.”

The TWOAS concept can of course be reviewed and adopted to suit Sabah’s culture, governance and needs, it said.

“It is of utmost importance that we support this initiative. Sabah’s women make up half the population of the state yet are represente­d by 9.6 per cent in law and policy making,” SAWO lamented.

According to SAWO, issue-based leadership with a gender perspectiv­e will improve the lives of all Sabahans tremendous­ly.

“As a state that is striving towards achieving sustainabl­e developmen­t, the TWOAS will go a long way to ensure that women and our concerns will not be left behind. SAWO urges all to join in the global IWD celebratio­n by committing to #choosetoch­allenge and call out inequality,” it said.

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