Sabah Women S Loss Is Pas Gain

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The Sabah Women’s Action Resource Group (Sawo), in an online demonstration via Zoom last Sunday, highlighted the plight of women in Sabah.
However, the new state government under the leadership of Chief Minister Hajiji Mohd Noor has not only left women out of his Cabinet but also appointed an assemblyman from an extremist Muslim party into Sabah’s august house, the state legislative assembly.
This backdoor appointment of Sabah PAS secretary Aliakbar Gulasan created a lot of angst and pushback. Aliakbar’s subsequent appointment of a Christian as his special assistant did nothing to cool the anger but made him look even more hypocritical.
Muslims well represented
No one can comprehend why a peninsula-based Muslim party member was given a chance to be a lawmaker thus depriving women, natives and neglected communities the opportunity to participate in the process of enacting laws and setting policies in the state.
Muslims in Sabah are already well represented through various organisations like MUIS and USIA, which have been around for decades. Native courts and native customs, which are unique to Sabah, are already in existence, complementing constitutional laws and shariah laws.
PAS is well known for its divisive rhetoric. Party president Abdul Hadi Awang reacted with glee thanking Hajiji and Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin over the appointment of one of its members.
And why not? Everyone appreciates a free meal without having to work for it. PAS cannot form the government on its own but has to ride the coattails of bigger parties like Umno or PPBM to occupy high positions in the Perikatan Nasional federal government. In Sabah, it’s the same situation.
Women suffer the most under Covid-19
Sawo and another advocacy group “Rakyat is Bos” stated the need to have more women in the legislative assembly to empower women in the decision-making process in government.
In the midst of the current Covid-19 crisis, women play a greater role in keeping family life functional and keeping a semblance of normalcy in their home.
Many are suffering as pressure mounts when the husband loses his job and the children can’t be schooled. The economic recovery will be a long process and women will carry a greater burden to support their family. Their voice must be heard.
Courting controversy by appointments
The issue of the six nominated assemblymen is useful for a party with a slim majority to prop up their numbers. It was not an issue during BN’s rule in Sabah as it had the strength of the majority.
When Warisan came into power the six-seat quota was filled up quickly to strengthen the party’s position in the legislative assembly. Some of the appointments were controversial.
One of the appointments from the DAP quota, Loh Ee Eng, was not born in Sabah although he holds permanent residency. One other nominated assemblyman betrayed Warisan and was one of the 33 people who tried to oust the Warisan government.
PBS president Maximus Ongkili is now receiving brickbats over the appointment of the PAS assemblyman, but he had his turn in criticising the appointments made by Warisan previously.
In June 2019, Ongkili said the state government had shown no respect to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 with regards to the appointment of Loh. He said it amounted to “setting a dangerous precedent” and he feared that it would open the floodgates for non-Sabahans and party leaders from Peninsular Malaysia to occupy political positions in the Sabah administration.
Sounds familiar? It’s the same as when you give a Malaya-based party a chance to gain a foothold in Sabah and spread their divisive ideologies.
Ongkili now has to eat his own words. As the minister in charge of Sabah and Sarawak affairs, he has failed in his duty to safeguard Sabah’s interest.
The role of a nominated assemblymen
In a newspaper report recently, Ongkili explained that the provision for the appointment of nominated assemblymen in the state constitution was meant to be an avenue for minority groups to provide input into political decision-making in the state.
“An ethnic Indian was made a nominated assemblyman in 1967 during the time of the Alliance government headed by Usno. Usno information chief Musli Oli said that historically, the posts were included in the state constitution with the intention of giving a voice to minority groups in Sabah.
“Some of these minority groups do not have representatives in the state legislative assembly. This was the noble reason why it was decided by the Sabah leaders and the then British colonialists that the six nominated assemblymen posts be included in the Sabah constitution,” he said.
However, PAS does not represent any minority group or community. They are well represented at the parliamentary level.
Dangerous to let PAS take root
PAS is a political party and should be treated as such. Its only objective is to create an Islamic state in Malaysia and implement hudud law just like it is doing in Kelantan.
Saudi Arabia and its three Gulf allies in November 2017 extended their so-called “terror list”, naming an international organisation of Muslim scholars whose leaders include Hadi.
The Saudi-led quartet comprising also of Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain said the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) was on its list of organisations and individuals accused of supporting terrorism. In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency, they said IUMS was “working to promote terrorism through the exploitation of Islamic discourse”.
Although Hadi has denied the accusations, the Arab quartet has not withdrawn its claims.
It is time for our politicians to be less male chauvinistic and give women their rightful role in politics. As state assemblywomen, wife, homemaker, sister and mother – they can make a big difference. - FMT
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.

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