Emulate Muda, give women 50pct of seats to contest - party leader

 

Other political parties should emulate Muda in giving women equal opportunity in contesting elections, said its central committee member Ainie Haziqah Shafiee.

Ainie (above) said Muda’s decision to allocate women 50 percent of the spots the party will contest in the upcoming six state elections has never been made before, and it corresponds to the percentage of females in Malaysia’s population.

“I definitely think that other parties should emulate Muda in giving 50 percent of spots in elections.

“Because if we look at our country, the population size is about equal between male and female. So why not our representation (in elections) also follows this, which is around 50-50?

“It is important for every political party, regardless of which bloc they belong to, to ensure more representation of women be it at state, federal, or local council levels,” she said.

Ainie spoke to reporters when met at a fundraising sale by Muda members in Bangsar.

According to Ainie, who used to be a PKR Srikandi chief, some political parties previously allocated around 30 percent of seats for their women during elections.

"Before this, many other parties had allocated 30 percent for women to be their candidates. Some even have this stated in their party constitution.

"But this is the first time a new political outfit does this, and this has never been done by any other party before, where we want to field women candidates at 50 percent of the seats," she said.

Adding further, Ainie said the decision is also a challenge to women in Muda but believes that it is not impossible for them to succeed.

She said there are many fresh talents in Muda who may have new ideas that can be highlighted."

Nasi lemak

Meanwhile, the fundraising today saw Muda leaders and members selling breakfasts like nasi lemak, mee hoon, scones and masala tea at a stall near a shopping complex in Bangsar.

According to Muda vice-president Siti Rahayu Baharin, they prepared 109 packs of nasi lemak and 50 packs of mee hoon this morning and sold each for RM10 to help fund the party in the upcoming state elections.

For the scones, she said, a Muda supporter had made some 50 packs and donated it to them to help the fundraising.

"We target to get RM3,000 from today and plan to do this every weekend. Hopefully, we can get at least RM10,000 to help with the state elections.

"Besides doing this, Muda is also focusing on our digital fundraising drive. What we are trying to achieve here (with the stall) is to encourage our candidates to do their fundraising.

"We want to ignite their creativity, imagination. If they cannot cook, they can try to do other activities to fund their campaign," she said.

According to Siti Rahayu, better known as Cikgu Ayu among Muda members, the party is also trying to bring a new way of raising election funds.

She said it is time for the country to have its political funding act.

"Until when do we want to see that only those with deep pockets can afford to get involved in politics and contest in elections?," she said. - Mkini