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KUALA TERENGGANU, Malaysia, June 4 (AFP)-Malaysia's Islamic opposition party came in for criticism Sunday for sidelining women at its annual assembly. Central committee member Lo'lo' Mohamad Ghazalee questioned whether it was against Islamic law to let women leaders of the Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) sit with their male counterparts on the stage. "We saw smartly-dressed PAS leaders sitting on the stage but what happened to us [women], why are we sidelined?" she asked. "Is there discrimination against women in PAS or it is un-Islamic if women are on stage with men?" If PAS leaders could sit with women leaders on other occasions, why not at the party general assembly, she asked. PAS leader Fadzil Noor meets regularly with Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the wife of jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim. She heads the National Justice Party, which is one of the party's allies. Lo'lo' urged the party leadership to consider allowing women leaders in PAS to sit with their male counterparts and not treat them as second-class leaders. Lo'lo' also urged the party to agree on a standard dress code for women members to avoid criticism at the next general assembly. "Human beings' tastes differ from one another. So give us a set of guidelines on proper dressing for PAS women members to hide their aurat [parts of the body that should not be exposed]," she said. She said many women professionals had joined the party and needed a clear guide from the leadership on dress. The party's attitude to women also came in for criticism from Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Mahathir, quoted by the official Bernama news agency, said the opposition party's current policy was one of deceit and hypocrisy. On the one hand it refused women the opportunity to stand as candidates but on the other it used them to campaign for male candidates, he said. PAS said during the assembly that it would consider fielding women candidates in the next general election. |
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