Female Leadership of Democratic Transitions in Asia
2002; University of British Columbia; Volume: 75; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/4127345
ISSN1715-3379
Autores Tópico(s)Gender Politics and Representation
Resumot is striking how often, over the last decade-and-a-half, women have led successful popular uprisings against dictatorships in Asia. Corazon C. Aquino in the Philippines (1986), Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan (1988), Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina Wajed in Bangladesh (1990) and Megawati Sukarnoputri in Indonesia (1998) inspired and organized mass protests against non-democratic regimes. They then guided precarious transitions to democracy. Aquino was the Philippines' first president after the Marcos dictatorship. Bhutto served twice as prime minister in the post-Zia era in Pakistan. Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina have alternated as prime minister since the end of military rule in Bangladesh. Megawati, who was initially elected vice president, succeeded to the Indonesian presidency after accusations of corruption and mismanagement led the upper house to dismiss Abdurrahman Wahid from office in July 2001. Moreover, women currently lead two democratic movements involved in ongoing struggles against authoritarianism. In Burma (which the military dictatorship has renamed Myanmar), Aung San Suu Kyi remains the country's most important oppositionist despite the 1998 massacre of protesters, the junta's refusal to recognize her party's overwhelming victory in the May 1990 elections, and her long house arrest. In Malaysia, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail leads a new opposition party and was a major figure in the opposition 199899 reformasi movement that attempted to unseat the long-reigning prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.
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