Revisiting the concept of women’s political ambitions: A case study of Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Studies have revealed that fewer and fewer women are keen on pursuing leadership positions in Malaysian politics as they lack political ambitions. It has been revealed that they prefer to be party members, work for the welfare of their constituents, and mobilize political support for the party and its leadership, especially during general elections. This preference is often viewed as being subordinate to male dominance. However, this present study contends that the political ambitions of women are self-ascribed and should be understood based on their preferred ways of participation and the extent of their influence. Qualitative data from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were used to demonstrate that women can be politically ambitious party members. Furthermore, the male-dominated leadership of a party may not hinder these ambitions but give women more ease and flexibility to be the influencers and welfare providers of the party. The political ambitions of these women were determined by examining their interests, aspirations, and relentless efforts in the roles that they play in their respective political parties. The findings of this present study broaden our perspectives and understanding of the intersection between gender and political ambitions.

KEYWORDS:

• Political ambition
• women’s political participation
• women’s narrative
• women leaders
• women's political leadership

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Parti Nasionalis Malaysia (PNM) was formed in 1945 when a few parties that were closely related to Parti Komunis Malaya (the Malayan Communist Party) banded together. The main aim of PNM was to push for the independence of colonial Malaya under the auspices of Indonesia. However, this raised concerns among the conservative Malay elites, the sultans, and the British. It was, therefore, banned in 1953 but later emerged in Indonesia as the Independence of Malaya Movement.

2 The accommodating culture of women in PAS is manifested through compliance with organizational norms and values within the party (PAS is considered a political party and also an Islamic organization) that requires its members to be loyal and obedient to leadership. This means that any decision made by the leadership must be accepted under the assumption that it is made based on the collective agreement of the leadership for the good of the party. This results in the party leadership having decisive power in candidate selection.

Additional information

Funding

Our sincere gratitude to the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia. The composition of this work was facilitated by the utilization of data and funding obtained through the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), under Project Code FRGS/1/2019/SS06/USM/03/2.

Notes on contributors

Zaireeni Azmi

ZAIREENI AZMI is a lecturer at the Centre for Research on Women and Gender (KANITA), USM. With extensive research experience, she focuses on various issues, particularly women in politics, leadership, elections, and other women's issues from a gender perspective. She is involved in various international, national, and internal research projects as a principal investigator and co-researcher, collaborating with research and educational institutions such as the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (Germany), Enhanced Regional EU-ASEAN Dialogue Instrument (E-READI), ALiGN, Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS-MOHE), AKEPT, Malaysian Social Institute (ISM), as well as internal university research grants. She has contributed to academic journals, book chapters, and mainstream media, and has served as a reviewer for books and journal articles. Dr. Zaireeni was also appointed as the National Consultant for the Study on Women's Political Participation and Leadership in ASEAN by the Ministry of Women, Family, and Community Development (KPWKM). In 2023, she was part of the consulting team that assessed the effectiveness of the Women's Development Action Plan, which is an action plan under the National Women's Policy 2009. In the same year, she joined the research team for the Needs Assessment of Women-Owned Micro and Small Enterprises (MSES) And Digitalization in Malaysia study sponsored by the Asian Foundation and is currently leading a research project sponsored by ODI, London on male allies titled “Men as Agents of Change.” Email: [email protected]

Teo Sue Ann

Teo Sue Ann is a Malaysian scholar. She is a Director of MySDG Centre for Social Inclusion, Society for the Promotion of Sustainable Development Goals Malaysia, All-Party Parliamentary Group Malaysian on Sustainable Development Goal as well as a Researcher and Liaison Officer of All-Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia for Sustainable Development Goals. She was appointed as an Academic Fellow at Unit for Research on Women and Gender (KANITA), Scool of Social Sciences. Her research interests are in minority groups, Diaspora, gender roles and performativity, everyday politics and migration. Email: [email protected]

Siti Waringin Onn

Siti WARINGIN OON is a Malaysian scholar. She is a Ph.D. student at the Emergency and Trauma Department, School of Medical Sciences at the Universiti Sains Malaysia as well as Senior Assistant Registrar at the Research Creativity Management Office (RCMO), Universiti Sains Malaysia. Her research focuses on women’s health, especially on violence against women and sexual reproductive health, the health system (One Stop Crisis Centre- center for abuse women and children), and women and leadership. Email: [email protected]

Nor Hafizah Selamat

Nor Hafizah SELAMAT is a Malaysian academic scholar. She is an Associate Professor in Social Anthropology and Tourism in the Anthropology and Sociology Section, the School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang Malaysia. She is also currently the Deputy Director of the Centre for Research on Women and Gender (KANITA), USM. Her scholarly interests include the anthropology of tourism, community development, gender tourism, and gender entrepreneurship. Among her latest research consultancy projects include The Needs Assessment of Women-Owned Micro And Small Enterprises (Mses) And Digitalization In Malaysia funded by The Asia Foundation; The Evaluation Study of the Effectiveness of the Women's Development Action Plan (funded by the Institut Sosial Malaysia) with the focus to review the goals, implementation strategy and approach of National Women Policy as well as evaluate the effectiveness of The Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women, especially from the point of view of its development and implementation; Men as Allies in Shaping a Gender Equality Society focusing on Men In Politics as Agents of Gender Equitable Change funded by the ODI, London. Email: [email protected]

Nurul Jannah Ambak

Nurul Jannah AMBAK is a research officer at the School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia. She received her Master's in Medical Statistics from Universiti Sains Malaysia and her Bachelor's in Statistics from the Universiti Teknologi MARA. Her research interests include statistics, medical statistics, and research methodology. She assisted a few academics and researchers in coordinating their research projects. Her current research project is to explore the knowledge, attitude, and practice of breastfeeding among indigenous people in Malaysia. Email: [email protected]