Female representation in Malaysia's Dewan Rakyat remains low at around 13.5 percent despite women comprising over 60 percent of university intake and 56.6 percent of the labor force, UMNO Women’s chief Datuk Seri Dr Noraini Ahmad said at the "Voices of HER" forum in Kuala Lumpur on May 1 [1].
"When women dominate more than 60 per cent of university intake and the female labour force participation rate reaches 56.6 per cent, female representation in the Dewan Rakyat is still only around 13.5 per cent," she stated [1].
Dr Noraini said the disproportionate political representation of women in Malaysia contradicts their education levels and economic participation, a disparity she said harms gender equality and the inclusiveness and quality of national policymaking [1].
She stressed that cultural attitudes toward female leadership remain a key barrier to greater political participation by women [1].
To increase women's political participation, she called for structural reforms including quotas or electoral incentives, improvements in party candidate selection, and development of leadership pipelines for women [1]. "Increasing women’s participation will not happen naturally without clear, structured and sustained policy intervention," Dr Noraini said [1].
The forum highlighted the gap between women’s strong presence in education and the workforce and their limited role in legislative politics. With women holding just over one-eighth of seats in the Dewan Rakyat, changes to electoral and party structures could help align political representation with women’s social and economic contributions.
The call for reforms comes amid broader discussions on gender equality in Malaysia’s political institutions. No specific legislative changes were announced at the forum. The next step will be to see whether policymakers propose concrete measures to implement quotas or candidate selection guidelines in future elections.
