LAWYER IN HOT WATER AFTER CLAIMING THAT WOMEN ARE NOT SUITED TO SERVE IN POSITIONS OF POWERS BECAUSE MENSTRUAL CYCLE PREVENTS THEM FROM PERFORMING CURTAIN DUTIES (MALAYSIA)

Umno lawyer Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun displayed his “caveman mentality” when he said women were unsuited for the Selangor Mentri Besar post as they could not perform their duties when menstruating, DAP’s Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud said today.

The political aide to veteran politician Lim Kit Siang scoffed at Hafarizam for his remark, saying the lawyer “obviously” does not know of powerful women leaders like three-time Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel and Argentina president Christina Fernandez de Kirshner.



“Perhaps if he had watched the World Cup Final yesterday, he may have noticed Merkel in the audience, sitting next to the President of Argentina, Christina Fernandez de Kirshner.



“In case it is not obvious enough for Dato’ Hafarizam, they are both successful women leaders,” Dyana pointed out in a statement here.



Dyana, who is a law graduate and DAP’s candidate in the just-concluded Teluk Intan by-election, said Hafarizam’s view was a clear testament to how Umno has failed to promote women in politics.



“It is precisely this sort of negative attitude by those in power that has constantly robbed women of opportunities to lead in this nation,” she said.



“Only a person with a caveman mentality can deny women the opportunity and right to hold a leadership position in government simply because she may not be able to perform certain ceremonial acts during ‘that time of the month’, even though she is perfectly capable of performing her governing and administrative obligations,” the young politician added.



Today, the New Straits Times reported Hafarizam as suggesting that the menstrual cycle prevents PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail from becoming Selangor mentri besar as she cannot accompany the Sultan at religious events during that time of the month.



In Islam, a menstruating woman is considered “unclean”, and is prohibited from praying and reading Quran, among others.



Most Islamic scholars also bar women from entering a mosque while menstruating.



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