At least 9 CEC seats in DAP will be filled by women

 

DAP says it wants to be in line with the country’s aspiration to have at least 30% of women in leadership roles.

KUALA LUMPUR: A minimum of nine women will be in DAP’s central executive committee (CEC) even if delegates do not vote them in during the party elections later this month.

DAP national organising secretary Loke Siew Fook said this was in line with the country’s aspiration to have at least 30% of women in leadership roles.

“For the first time, we have reserved nine seats for women leaders in the party elections. We amended our constitution during the last party congress for this purpose.

“They (women) will be given priority. In the event that there are fewer than nine women who are in the top 30, those who receive the highest votes among the losers will be co-opted,” he told a press conference today.

According to the list of 93 nominees for the CEC, there are at least 18 women.

The DAP’s national congress will be held on March 20 at the Ideal Convention Centre (IDCC) in Shah Alam.

The congress, initially scheduled to be held on June 20 last year, was postponed due to Covid-19.

Loke said a total of 4,149 delegates will elect the leadership for the 2022-2025 term.

“We have also amended our constitution to increase the number of CEC members from 20 to 30,” he said.

Among the notable candidates are party veteran Lim Kit Siang, 81, his son Guan Eng and daughter Hui Ying as well as late national chairman and lawyer Karpal Singh’s children, Gobind Singh Deo and Ramkarpal Singh.

With Guan Eng having finished his maximum three terms as party secretary-general, speculation is rife that Loke may replace him.

According to the DAP constitution, the 30 elected CEC members will in turn have their own election to vote in the new office-bearers from among them. - FMT