THE White Paper on the Top-Up Women-Only Additional Seats (TWOAS) initiative is ready to be distributed at the State Legislative Assembly on Nov 26, says state executive councillor for non-Islamic Religious Affairs and Social Development Chong Eng.
“This White Paper is a preparatory step for the tabling of the state Constitution Amendment Bill and the Non-Constituency Supplementary Members Bill at the first term of 2022 state legislative assembly to create the position of non-constituency supplementary members (NCSM).
“These members will be appointed indirectly if there are fewer than 12 assemblywomen elected out of the 40 state seats in Penang after a state election,” Chong Eng said during a press conference today.
Chong Eng said the TWOAS initiative was introduced by the state government to ensure that there are 30% of women representation in the state assembly.
“For instance, if there are six assemblywomen elected after a state election, like what we have now, then we will need to appoint another nine assemblywomen.
“On the other hand, if there is no woman representative elected after a state election, it will need an additional 18 appointed women representatives to achieve the 30% quota.
“This benchmark has been set by the international community since the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action or the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action.
“Yet, to date, only 15% of the elected parliamentarians and 11% of state assembly representatives are women.
“With the implementation of TWOAS, the Penang state assembly will become the first legislature in Malaysia to achieve a minimum of 30% women’s representation, making Malaysia the third country in Southeast Asia to achieve it at state level, after Timor-Leste and Vietnam,” Chong Eng added.
According to Chong Eng, the system had been implemented by the Sabah, Tengganu and Pahang governments, and would be adopted in Melaka soon.
However, she said, what the Penang government is proposing is different from what is being practised in other states.
“This is not a bonus seat to strengthen the government’s position. Instead, these seats will be distributed to all the parties contesting in the state election according to the percentage of votes obtained.
“Every party that contests will be eligible to nominate up to 18 nominees for NCSM, and the seats won by the parties will be given to the nominees according to their order in the list,’’ she said.
Apart from that, Chong Eng said the NCSM holds the same power as the elected state assemblymen except in two aspects.
“Firstly, they cannot hold the post of Chief Minister and the state executive councillors.
“Secondly, they cannot serve as the NCSM for two consecutive terms so as to provide opportunity for more women to become state representatives.
“NCSM has no special constituency but serves the entire state by advocating on issues which concern them such as women’s rights, safety, education, environment and others,” she said.
Chong Eng also said the White Paper was an effort undertaken by the state government to gather the views of state assemblymen as well as the public on TWOAS initiative before the tabling of the Bill next year.
“Since last year, a total of 21 engagement sessions on the TWOAS initiative were held, whereby some insightful suggestions were taken into account to improve the design of the whole system.
“For those who are interested in becoming NCSM nominees, they need to participate in the gender perspective training session organised by Penang Women’s Development Corporation (PWDC).
“They will be conferred with a certificate of participation which will serve as one of the requirements to qualify as a nominee.
“Their personal details can be emailed to [email protected] starting from Nov 26,” she added.
Meanwhile, PWDC chief executive officer Ong Bee Leng, who was also present, said the public could get a copy of the White Paper at the PWDC office and the offices of state executive councillors, starting Nov 26.
“They can also get it at PWDC’s website ( https://pwdc.org.my/ ),” Ong said.
Story by Tanushalini Moroter
Pix by Ahmad Adil Muhamad