Women's rights group calls for 30% women's representation in Cabinet line-up

PETALING JAYA: The Pakatan Harapan (PH) government has been urged to fulfill one of the promises made to women in their manifesto – to have 30% women's representation in the Cabinet line-up.
The call was made by a group of women's rights advocates, Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG), who held a public demonstration in front of the Istana Negara, early this morning.
During the demonstration, the group said that the demand for minimum 30% women's participation in Cabinet is not something new as such a promise had previously been made by the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government since 1998.
"Continuing the trend, PH had made similar promise in their Buku Harapan under Commitment to Women No. 5, in order to promote and achieve gender equality in the country," the group said in a statement.
While the group welcomed the appointment of Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as the Deputy Prime Minister, Rina Harun as the Rural Development Minister and Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin as Housing and Local Government Minister, they believe that there are a sufficient number of qualified women parliamentarian candidates up to the task.
"All it takes is for their names to be put forward for the Prime Minister's consideration," the group said.
The group have listed some of the female MPs that should be considered for ministerial appointments; these include Nurul Izzah Anwar (Permatang Pauh), Hannah Yeoh (Segambut), Kasthuri Patto (Batu Kawan), Maria Chin Abdullah (Petaling Jaya), Teresa Kok (Seputeh, DAP), Fuziah Salleh (Kuantan), Teo Nie Ching (Kulai), Alice Lau (Lanang), Yeo Bee Yin (Bakri) and Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis (Kota Belud).