Puchong MP Yeo Bee Yin said the fund will encourage political parties to train, appoint and nominate women leaders across all levels.
KUALA LUMPUR: An MP has proposed establishing a fund to empower women and boost their participation in Malaysian politics.
Yeo Bee Yin (PH-Puchong) told the Dewan Rakyat that as a start, RM5 million could be allocated from the RM28 million budgeted for women’s development next year, to be used by all parties.
The former minister said there are only 30 women MPs in the current Parliament and fewer than 100 have held parliamentary seats since independence.
Women also hold less than 15% of political leadership positions at the grassroots level, she said.
“With such low representation, the voices and needs of women often fail to receive the attention they deserve,” she said during the debate on the women, family and community development ministry’s 2025 budget today.
Proposing the fund, Yeo said it would encourage political parties, regardless of their affiliation, to train, appoint and nominate women leaders at all levels, including village heads, council members, assemblymen and MPs.
“The government could also provide matching grants to political parties for programmes aimed at empowering women within their ranks,” she said.
Yeo also said the fund would not only become a game-changer for the country’s political system, but also a stepping stone towards enacting the political financing bill.
“This fund could serve as a pilot project for the political financing bill, which we have long sought to develop or approve,” she said, adding that this would effectively “kill two birds with one stone”.
A political financing law regulates how parties and politicians receive and use money by ensuring disclosure of the source of funds and donations as well as the amounts received.
It was reported that the bill was expected to be tabled during the current parliamentary meeting, according to the All-Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia on Political Financing.
2025-01-06T03:23:00Z
source link: FMT