Muslim women struggle to gain footing in politics

Muslim women struggle to gain footing in politics

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Could a Muslim woman win an election?
Judging from the experience of women in Southeast Asia,
women's participation in politics is less about religion,
although the religious interpretation that subordinates women
also contributes to a dearth of women in politics.

Amina Rasul, Muslim scholar and former Philippine parliament
member, said that regardless of religion, the mantra for anyone
wanting to jump into politics is money, money, money.

"Even in the country (the Philippines) with 90 percent (of the
population) Catholic, there have been Muslim female senators,"
she said when addressing an international seminar on Islam and
political parties in Southeast Asia here on Wednesday.

The important things, she said, are money, strong backing from
the palace and advertising. That was why actors often win because
they are loved by the masses.

Amina touched upon her experience while running for the
senate, when she campaigned about public welfare issues.

"I talked and talked about those issues. And this other
candidate only said that she would be able to bring celebrities
to people's villages. That was it, and she won," she laughed.

Still, politics is not a fulfilling career for women as they
are still marginalized. Female electoral representation in the
Philippines is only 15.3 percent, although it is higher than in
Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, with 9.1 percent, 10.4 percent
and 11.3 percent respectively.

"The women's wing (of a political party), for instance, tends
to marginalize women. It focuses too much on so-called women's
issues, never on issues like agriculture," Amina said.

Tristanti Mitayani finds it rather uncomfortable being the
sole woman legislator on House of Representatives Commission I
for defense, information and foreign affairs.

"Most women legislators are put on commissions considered
'suitable' for women. There's no woman legislator on the
commission handling agriculture, for instance," she said.

Her opinion is often ignored by fellow legislators, as well as
by the media just because she is a woman.

"I really wish the commission wasn't so male-dominated. Every
time I raise something, I'm always overlooked," said Tristanti.

The paternal society in Malaysia has also left many women
there reluctant to participate in politics.

"The challenges is to recruit women. So, we're now campaigning
to get women to jump into the political arena," said Tan Lian
Hoe, chairwoman of Barisan Nasional's women's wing.

Women politicians also have a hard time juggling their
political roles and their roles at home, like Tristanti who has
difficulties as a single parent of three children.

Meanwhile, Chidchanok Rahimmula had so much work as an MP's
wife in southern Thailand that she had to abandon her career as a
political scientist and lecturer.

"But I can do more for people than I can being an academician.
Right now, for instance, I work for the National Reconciliation
Committee," said the British university graduate.

Women may still have a long way to go before they get a level
playing field in the political arena, and the women politicians
believe they have to prove their worth.

Tristanti said that instead of becoming aggressive like men,
women politicians must become "real women" and accentuate their
positive, feminine side while still being assertive.

Amina has a more interesting way of putting it: "You catch
more flies with honey than with vinegar". That's what
differentiate women from men, the conviction that confrontation
is not the solution to everything.