Can a Woman be a Leader in Asia?

WOMEN LEADERS

For those who are not sure whether a woman can become Menteri Besar, let us remember the number of women who have been elected as President or Prime Minister not only in the world but even in Asia. Even in Muslim countries, Benazir Bhutto had been twice elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan. Bangladesh had two women Prime ministers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina Wajed. Indonesia has seen Megawati Sukarno as President of the largest Muslim country in the world.

Other women leaders in Asia have included Indira Gandhi who was the Indian Prime Minister twice over span of 16 years, Sirimavo Bandaraniake and then her daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga who were Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka, Corazon Aquino and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo were Presidents of Philippines, Yingluck Shinawatra was Prime Minister of Thailand and Park Geun-hye President of Korea.

It is however interesting to note that all these women leaders had direct family relationships with past leaders of their countries. Indira Gandhi’s father was Jawahalal Nehru (no relation to Mahatma Gandhi), Sirimavo was the wife of Solomon Bandaranaike, Benazir was the daughter of Zulkifar Ali Bhutto, Khaleda is the wife of former president Zaur Rahman and Hasina the daughter of founder President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Megawati is the daughter of President Sukarno, Corazon was the wife of Senator Benigno Aquino and Gloria is the daughter of Ferdinand Macapagal. Yingluck is the sister of Thaksin and Park Guen-hye the daughter of former President Park Chung Hee.

If Dr Wan Azizah becomes a state leader, she owes her position mainly to her husband’s name and position.

However in many other countries outside Asia, the women leaders were elected on their own merit, without any direct connection to their fathers or husbands. There are not less than 30 other women leaders such as Golda Meir in Israel, Margaret Thatcher in UK, Julia Gillard of Australia, Angela Merkel in Germany, Dilam Rouseff in Brazil and many others in countries such as Denmark, Norway, Ireland, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, Malawi and Liberia.

 My article on Women Leaders was also published in Malay Mail, besides the online Malaysian Insider.

When I mentioned that all the women leaders in Asia had direct family relationship with men leaders, it was not to disparage the contributions of these women leaders. Some of them, such as Indira Gandhi and Benazir Bhutto, had been active in their own right and were proven dynamic leaders. On the other hand, Corazon Aquino was just a housewife, and leadership was thrust upon her after the assassination of her husband. She was certainly a leader of integrity and a welcome change from the Marcos era, but she would not otherwise be elected into leadership on her own. Similarly, Dr Wan Azizah, if made Menteri Besar, would be a sincere and honest leader but again she was given the leadership on behalf of her husband who was caught in legal web.

It is also true that in Asia, even some men leaders were elected following the footsteps of their close relatives such as Chiang Ching Kuo (son of Chiang Kai-shek) of Taiwan, Rajiv Gandhi (son of Indira Gandhi) in India, Asif Ali Zardari (husband of Benazir Bhutto), Lee Hsien Loong (son of Lee Kuan Yew)and our own Najib Abdul Razak. However they are still a minority compared to many other men leaders in Asia. In most American and European countries, this is an exception whether male or female leaders. In the history of the United States, there were only two father-son Presidents: John and John Q Adams and George HW and George W Bush, separated by nearly 200 years.