I call on DAP women members to lean in to achieve 30% local councilors target. Gender equality and increasing women representation in decision making have always been the one Democratic Action Party (DAP)’s main political agendas.
YAB Chow Kon Yeow, the Penang State Chairman of DAP and also the Chief Minister of Penang has repetitively stated that the Penang DAP will achieve the target of at least 30% of women in local city councils in Penang by 2020. He urged DAP Wanita (Women Wing) to continue to scout for women with relevant potentials and talents. Currently, the Penang DAP has 18 local councilors and only 3 of them are women. Hence, in order to achieve the minimum 30% target, we still need to increase the number to 6.
At present, the Penang DAP has contacted all DAP branches and the Jawatankuasa Perhubungan Kawasan Parlimen in Penang to nominate their candidates for local councilors in 2020. The deadline for the nomination is 4th November 2019. Hence, I hereby call for all women members of the party to actively participate and accept nominations. Women who are interested should nominate themselves even without the nomination from your branch leader. Please send your nomination form to the party latest by the 4th November 2019.
Due to the fact that the party is yet to achieve the 30% women local councilors target, the National DAP Wanita Central Executive Committee has in a meeting on 14th October 2019 decided to headhunt women candidate with relevant abilities and who are supportive of DAP’s idealogy, as local councilors.
The local councils are closely knitted with the people’s livelihoods. Hence, I strongly believed that inclusive policies can be developed by increasing women representatives in the local councils. As DAP strongly believes that the local council is the best training ground for leadership skills, the party has always been providing opportunities for young leaers to fill the post.
Nonetheless, due to the societal stereotypes that positioned males as leadership figures, women have been facing difficulties to enter the local council. As a consequence, they also take a longer time to perform. It is even more challenging for mothers who have to juggle between family and their careers. DAP Wanita observed that most working women and working mothers could not join politics mostly due to the lack of time. Most of them could only enter politics after their children have grown up or during their retirement.
Penang DAP Wanita has successfully persuaded some capable and talented women who are willing to serve the people and society to help DAP to achieve the minimum 30% target. Thus, we will request the party to select and appoint these women as local councilors if we are unable to find the willing candidates within the party.
The Penang DAP Wanita Chairman, Lim Siew Khim and I have met with the Penang DAP Secretary, Lim Hui Ying and the Penang State Chairman of DAP, Chow Kon Yeow to convey the National DAP’s Women Wing’s decision. Thus, I sincerely hope and believe that Penang State DAP will be pioneering such an initiative to achieve the 30% women local councilors target by next year.