KOTA KINABALU: Despite continued efforts to advance gender equality, representation of women in Sabah's political landscape remains significantly inadequate, said Institute for Development studies chairperson Datuk Adeline Leong.
In the 2020 Sabah state election, she said there was only nine per cent or 43 women out of the 447 candidates.
The current Sabah State Legislative Assembly saw only eight per cent or 7 women out of 79 assemblymen.
At the federal level, she said, only 3 out of 25 Sabah members of Parliament were women.
"These numbers are not just statistics as they represent a glaring gap in the representation of women in our political decision-making processes that we must confront head-on.
"As we gather here today to address the under-representation of women in Sabah's political landscape, it is essential that we delve into the underlying factors that have contributed to this imbalance.
"To truly understand the complex web of challenges faced by women in politics, we must listen to the voices of our speakers and actively engage in the dialogue sessions today.
"By doing so, we can learn more about the various obstacles, like traditional roles, limited resources, money disparities, lasting beliefs, and cultural norms, that have stopped women from fully taking part in Sabah's politics," she said during the launching of a dialogue on tackling Sabah's under-representation of women in politics at a hotel here.
Leong said the collaborative effort will not only shed light on the root causes of the issue but also guide us in crafting effective solutions that will empower women to take their rightful place in shaping the future of the state.
She said Sabah can also draw inspiration from other nations that have successfully addressed the issue of gender disparity in politics.
Citing examples from European and Asian countries, the implementation of gender quota systems had boosted women's representation in politics.
"Sweden has spearheaded this system since the early 1970s, requiring political parties to maintain equal numbers of male and female candidates on their electoral lists. This has resulted in a high level of gender parity in Swedish politics.
"Norway followed suit, imposing a 40 per cent gender quota for political party candidate lists. This led to a substantial increase in female participation in Norwegian politics.
"In the early years after independence in 1947, Pakistan established reserved seats for women in its legislative bodies to promote their participation. A pivotal development occurred in 2002 during the era of General Pervez Musharraf.
"Under his leadership, Pakistan made a substantial leap by increasing the number of reserved seats for women to 60 in the National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies."
Present were Assistant Sabah Community Development and People's Wellbeing minister Datuk Flovia Ng, IDS chief executive officer Datuk D. Ramzah Dambul and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Malaysia director Miriam Fishcher.
