Shahrizat’s appointment as the prime minister’s adviser on women affairs is the second time she has been given a political lifeline.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 — Yet to be announced, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s appointment as the prime minister’s adviser on women affairs has raised questions among gender equality activists who fear the role will undermine the authority of the incumbent minister.

Shahrizat’s return to the Cabinet has drawn flak from several women’s rights groups who viewed her role as redundant, and voiced apprehension that she may dish out conflicting advice on programmes initiated under the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development now helmed by Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim.

Such conflict, they suggested, could disrupt gender advocacy efforts.

“To be honest, if we have a women’s minister, an elected one, I don’t see why we need another,” Maria Chin Abdullah, executive director of Persatuan Kesedaran Komunity Selangor (Empower), told The Malay Mail Online when contacted.

Carving out a special seat on women’s issues just to accommodate Shahrizat was unnecessary, she said, highlighting that the Wanita Umno chief had not given much punch during her three years heading the ministry.

“I think it will not bring that much of a trust, there will be doubt over her performance,” Chin said, referring to Shahrizat’s link to the RM250 million National Feedlot Centre (NFC) scandal involving the former minister’s husband and children that hit national headlines two years ago and which remains grist for news mills.

“I think she has done some things during her tenure, but I feel she has not done enough, for example, on the issue of Islamic family law, that till now nothing has been done,” she added.

Chin said there have been numerous amendments to the current laws that women’s groups have been lobbying for, and which appear to have stagnated.

All Women’s Action Society (AWAM) president Ho Yock Lin shared similar views, but expressed concern that Shahrizat’s return might undermine the power of the incumbent women’s minister.

As adviser to the prime minister, Shahrizat will be conferred full ministerial powers.

Picking Shahrizat was a major policy misstep, Ho said, as the prime minister would be signalling his lack of confidence in the existing women’s minister to carry out her job.

“At the same time, if there is a conflict of programmes, who shall the government listen to?” the AWAM president asked.

She said Shahrizat may have done some good during her turn in office, but despite her long tenure she had little to show for it.

It would be more suitable if Shahrizat were appointed Rohani’s adviser, Ho suggested, saying a new leader may revitalise the government’s efforts on women’s rights.

“It is time to for [Shahrizat] to go, time for new people to try [to take the lead],” Ho said.

“If she really wants to, maybe she can be an adviser to the ministry, but not the prime minister.”

Shahrizat’s help, however, may not be welcomed as her successor Rohani has stressed that her predecessor was not appointed to her ministry.

“It’s not adviser to my ministry,” Rohani told reporters on the sidelines of the Women’s Summit 2013 conference on Tuesday.

Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) executive director Ivy Josiah hoped the news of Shahrizat’s appointment was merely a bad rumour.

Shahrizat, the former Lembah Pantai MP, yesterday confirmed with The Malay Mail that she received her appointment letter last Thursday.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has maintained a resolute silence in confirming Shahrizat’s appointment when asked at a news conference on Monday.

Like Chin and Ho, Josiah said an adviser role was not sensible as it would undermine the status of the women’s ministry which has a large enough machinery to lead on policy and implementation on women’s issues.

“Furthermore if the rumour is true, it will not look good, as perception wise it will appear to be political patronage,” she told The Malay Mail Online in a text message yesterday.

Josiah noted that the appointment in an adviser role would mark Shahrizat’s return to political power, over a year after the Wanita Umno chief lost her Cabinet portfolio at the height of a national cattle-farming scandal.

Shahrizat was the women, family and community development minister from April 10, 2009 to April 8, 2012 and dropped from Cabinet after she lost her senatorship due to allegations of impropriety after her family was implicated in a RM250 million federal loan for a failed national cattle-farming project.

This is the second time Shahrizat will be given a political lifeline after having won a similar reprieve in the aftermath of Election 2008, when she was defeated by newcomer Nurul Izzah Anwar in the contest for the Lembah Pantai federal seat.

The embattled leader will be defending her post in Wanita Umno in the coming party polls and is expected to face a challenge from another ex-minister, the younger Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.