Rohani: Women are still under-represented in politics

PETALING JAYA: Despite the government's commitment to ensure women have equal opportunities in the socio-economic and political sphere, women are still under-represented in politics.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim (pix) said although capable women were given opportunities to contest in elections for their constituencies at both the state and federal level, the number of female candidates elected to office in the 2008 - 2013 election remains at 10.4% - a slight increase from the 2004 election (9.6%).
"The number of female members in the Dewan Negara, on the other hand, performed better as the percentage of women appointed as Senators increased from below 20% to almost 30%," Rohani said in her opening remarks at the Women in Leadership Summit and Exhibition 2016 today.
She added that the number of women occupying minister and deputy minister posts experienced a mixed fortune.
"During the period of 1995 - 2014, the number of women appointed as ministers remained unchanged at two," she said.
Rohani then revealed that it is anticipated that this lop-sided representation will change over the coming years as the public is slowly recognising women as political leaders.
"This process can be accelerated with the commitment of each political party to woo more women as members and selecting them as election candidates," she explained.
In term of socio-economics, Rohani revealed that the government has created an enabling environment for women to remain in the labour force, especially those with young families.
"Some of it include the introduction of incentives and tax exemption to encourage the setting up of child care centres at the work place, child care fee subsidy of RM150 for each child for parents with household incomes of below RM4,500 per month in the public sector," she said.
To further encourage women to return to the workforce, Rohani added that the government has launched the Women Career Comeback Grant on Mar 2 last year.
"The grant's main purpose is to retain women at work, encourage those who have left the workforce to return to work and to motivate women to rise to senior management roles," she explained, while revealing that the grant has benefited some 190 women in the private sector so far.