Shahrizat an example of how Umno has failed women, says Dyana Sofya

Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud says that DAP‎ honoured all women instead of belittling their achievement. – The Malaysian Insider pic, May 18, 2014.DAP's Teluk Intan candidate Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud ‎today hit back‎ at Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, saying that the ‎latter's belittling remarks against her were testament to Wanita Umno's failure to promote women in politics.

"The statement by Wanita Umno head Shahrizat Jalil that my candidacy is simply a show by the DAP is indicative of the failure of Wanita Umno in promoting its own members into positions of leadership in the party and in government.

"Instead of lauding DAP for the courage and the political will to field me, a young Malay woman in a seat traditionally contested by a Chinese representative from Barsian Nasional, Shahrizat Jalil has instead belittled me and DAP‎," Dyana said in a statement today.

‎"It is precisely this sort of negative attitude that originates from BN woman leaders that has constantly robbed women of opportunities to lead in this nation."

Yesterday, Shahrizat ‎expressed pity towards Dyana for allegedly being unaware that she was a puppet being used by the DAP to grab power.

‎But Dyana said today DAP‎ honoured all women and recognised that women had to take on a bigger role in the government to balance out male-female representation.

"(And DAP) does this by being bold enough to nominate more and more female candidates in every election.  Women’s role in politics should not be confined to playing second fiddle, serving food and drinks to party workers and visiting voters in their houses, dishing out goodies."

She said DAP‎ had promoted youthful candidates regardless of race and gender in previous elections, pointing to Teo Nie Ching and Liew Chin Tong in 2008, Zairil Khir Johari, Kasthuri Patto and Alice Lau in 2013.

Dyana also refuted Shahrizat's claim that Umno had brought her to where she was today, and said that‎ the credit instead laid with her mother and family.

‎"I ask that she learns from my mother, who is an Umno member, but has realised that my candidacy by DAP heralds a breakthrough for young women in politics, especially for young Malay women, who have long been held back by an inflexible, patriarchal structure in Umno.

“I owe who I am today to my family and to my mother, to hard work and to the personal decisions which I have made along my life," said Dyana.

She said if she had chosen a path similar to Shahrizat's instead of joining DAP in 2011, it would be impossible ‎for her to aim to enter Parliament as the representative for the people of Teluk Intan and if elected, to be the youngest MP in Parliament.

"Datuk Shahrizat Jalil and Puteri Umno should not belittle my intelligence and my ability to tell the difference between BN, which protects the interests of the rich and powerful, and DAP, which protects the rights of ordinary Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or creed.

"The party has nominated me precisely because I strongly believe in the ideals of justice, equal opportunity and good governance," said Dyana.

Dyana, who is the political aide to DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang, is taking on veteran leader Datuk Mah Siew Kong of BN, whose candidacy was announced yesterday.

Mah, who is Gerakan president, won the seat in the 1999 and 2004 general elections but lost to DAP's M. Manogaran and Seah Leong Peng in 2008 and 2013 by 1,470 and 7,313 votes respectively.

The seat fell vacant after Seah died from cancer on May 1, triggering a by-election in a constituency that includes 23,301 Malay voters‎ (38.6%), 25,310 Chinese voters (41.9%) and 11,468 Indian voters (19%).

DAP, which makes up one-third of the opposition pact, had been trying hard to prove its detractors wrong by fielding more Malay candidates in the last general election to broaden its appeal.

But its decision to field Dyana has sparked criticism from Umno, including party mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia, which claimed her candidacy ‎would only leave her dejected and worthless to the party.

Dyana also became the victim of a smear campaign that includes pictures of her in skimpy underwear, in a move that analysts say is an attempt to show she was not a "real" or "good" Malay.