KEDAH Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor has come under fire for his “extremist and misogynistic attitude” towards women, following reported comments he made about the capability of female people’s representatives in a federal constituency in the state.
According to the News Straits Times (NST), the controversial PAS leader purportedly stated in a viral video: “In Sik, the candidates (from Barisan Nasional or BN and Pakatan Harapan or PH) are women. It is not that I’m demeaning women. (But) in Sik, a rural area with many people in need, they would seek help from the wakil rakyat at all kinds of times.
“Will they be able to do so (if the elected representative is a woman)?” he asked. “I don’t think so. At 3am (if they’re woken up by constituents seeking their help), we can imagine their hair would be messy.
“How are they going to help victims of floods, for instance? It would take them more than two hours just to get ready,” he said, adding it was “more appropriate” to vote for a man instead.
Women candidates Datuk Latifah Md Yatim and Maizatulakmam Othman @Ibrahim from PH and BN, respectively, will be battling it out with Sik incumbent MP Ahmad Tarmizi Sulaiman from PAS during the national polls on Saturday (Nov 19).
In a statement today, DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng claimed that not only does Sanusi not respect women, he further insults and ridicules them as unfit for higher office or being elected as an MP.
“For PAS to adopt such a hard-line extremist position against women negates and ignores the critical role played by women in our country’s national development,” he said.
“What is worse is that Perikatan Nasional (PN), including Bersatu and Gerakan as well as STAR and SAPP from Sabah, supports such PAS leaders,” the former finance minister added.
Lim said not just women but all men should reject “political dinosaurs” like PN, of which PAS is a part, for “dividing the people and wanting to bring the country back to the primitive era”.
“Long line of extremist, racist statements”
“Such irrational and perverted statements continue a long line of extremist and racist statements by PAS leaders, including its president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang,” Lim claimed further.
“PAS Sik Youth chief Mohd Shahiful Md Nasir has also been condemned for warning that those voters who choose BN and PH will end up in hell. This is clearly misusing religion irresponsibly for political advantage.”
Lim noted that apart from Hadi’s “racist” statements, the aforementioned “extremist” statements appear to originate from PAS leaders who were campaigning in Sik.
As such, the incumbent Bagan MP said PAS and PN should be rejected in the coming general election “for reaching a new low by using not only race and religion but throwing in misogyny” as well in an effort to try to win this Saturday’s polls.
Separately, Latifah also criticised Sanusi for his remarks, claiming that the resilience that women have is greater than men.
“That’s why God allows women to conceive children,” the former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officer said, according to Malaysiakini.
“Try to take a coconut and tie it to his stomach,” she added. “While a woman is pregnant for nine months, it’s like pawning her life. We’ll ask if he (Sanusi) can manage it.”
She also said that she is used to being on standby all day and all night from her previous MACC job, which sometimes required her to take part in demolitions or raids carried out at night.
“Even in PAS, there is a large percentage of women who contest,” she said further. “It doesn’t make sense for him to say that.”– Nov 12, 2022
Main photo credit: The Star
