Zuraida calls on parties to field women in more 'winnable seats'

 

MALACCA POLLS | Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin has called on political parties to field more women candidates in "winnable seats".

This followed the majority of women candidates in the Malacca election being fielded in what Zuraida believed to be "tough" seats.

Speaking in her capacity as the Council of Malaysian Women Political Leaders (Comwel) president, Zuraida said there are 15 women competing for Malacca state seats this time around, compared to just five in 2018.

But in order to achieve 30 percent women representation in the state assembly, she said eight of the women candidates will need to win.

Having 30 percent female representation in state legislatures and Parliament has been a long sought after goal for women empowerment activists.

However, Zuraida implied that this goal may be difficult to achieve as many women candidates had been fielded in "tough" seats held by male incumbents who won with large majorities.

Number of women candidates for Malacca election 

She cited the example of Kesidang and Kota Laksamana, where MCA and Gerakan female candidates respectively are going against male DAP incumbents who previously won with five-digit majorities in 2018.

She noted that the exception was Bandar Hilir, where DAP is fielding a new female candidate to defend the safe seat.

"Comwel hopes that in the future, women candidates will be given winnable seats," Zuraida said in a statement today.

The plantation industries and commodities minister added that parties should be mindful to field more women candidates in the first place.

"A research by Harvard Business Review (in 2019) had shown that women scored at a statistically significantly higher level than men on a vast majority of leadership competencies and this points to the importance of creating opportunities for women leadership by political parties," she said. - Mkini