The over 300 people who attended the public forum “Respect Women’s Dignity Towards a 1st World Parliament” at YMCA Hall, Kuala Lumpur last night unanimously agreed that the two sexist Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs, Datuk Mohd Said Yusof (Jasin) and Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (Kinabatangan) had been guilty of unacceptable sexual harassment and dishonour of DAP MP for Batu Gajah, Fong Po Kuan, shaming Parliament, Malaysian women and the nation’s international reputation with their crude, vulgar, sexist gender-offensive remarks in Parliament last week — compounded by their low farce of “apology to Po Kuan and all Malaysian women, then only to Malaysian women but not to Po Kuan, and then not even to Malaysian women” on Cabinet day on Wednesday.
The public forum agreed that the suitable penalty for the duo is the following five-point punishment:
1. Six-month suspension as MP.
2. Six-month community service with women groups.
3. Donation of the their entire parliamentary allowance during suspension to women groups.
4. Full apology to Fong Po Kuan and Malaysian women.
5. If no full apology, the six-month suspension and community service to be extended to 12 months.
The forum decided that its decision be conveyed to the Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, before she meets up with the two errant BN MPs at 10 am the next day on Friday (18th May).
To implement the five-point penalty, the forum decided that its decision should receive endorsement by the following:
- Cabinet Committee on Gender Equality.
- Parliamentary Caucus on Gender Equality.
- Cabinet.
- Parliament — with a motion on June 18 (the first day of next meeting) to directly mete out the five-point penalties for the two sexist BN MPs, without any reference to the Committee of Privileges.
The forum also decided on the following:
- Call on the relevant state awarding authorities to strip the two sexist BN MPs of their “Datuk” titles, which had been dishonoured by them.
- Apologies should be tendered by the following who had either supported or condoned the abominable male-chauvinist misconduct of the two BN MPs —
1. Fadilan Yusuf (BN MP — Petrajaya).
2. Idris Haron (BN MP — Tangga Batu).
3. Datuk Shahrir Samad — BN MP — Johor Baru).
4. Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz – Minister in Prime Minister’s Department..
5. Datuk Seri Najib Razak — Deputy Prime Minister.
- Call on all political parties to adopt Code of Conduct requiring gender-sensitivity as a criteria for selection of candidates for Parliamentary and State Assembly elections.
- Gender-sensitisation programme for all MPs — and the inclusion of the subject of “gender-sensitisation of Parliamentarians” as a specific topic in the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Conference 2008 to be held in Malaysia.
- Gender-sensitisation of Cabinet Ministers.
- Launch of a People’s Parliament movement to spread to all corners of the country the message of the “Respect Women’s Dignity Towards A 1st World Parliament” forum.