Women are not born to be leaders, claims Zahid's daughter

 

Women are not born to be leaders - that is the belief of Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's eldest daughter Nurulhidayah.

She said this in an interview with the "Politically Frank" programme under Sinar Daily, the English video arm of Malay newspaper Sinar Harian, when asked for her take on women's rights and female representation in politics.

"Women's right in politics? Women are not born to be leaders tau (you know)? So... yes, women are not born to be leaders.

"A man is born to be a leader. So I think for human rights, for women's rights, I think semua patut ada (all should have) the right. Because we are all human," she said.

Nurulhidayah is a member of Umno. In 2018, she stood as a candidate for the election of Wanita Umno's national leadership committee but was unsuccessful.

When asked whether she was planning to run for public office in the next general election, Nurulhidayah said she was not but might attempt to do so during the election after.

Anwar is a ‘sweet talker’

On the relationship between her family and that of PKR president Anwar Ibrahim, Nurulhidayah revealed that their ties had existed for a long time.

She described Anwar as a "sweet talker" who had strong family values - the latter trait being one that she admires.

When questioned on who should be the next prime minister, Nurulhidayah was coy.

"The leader of the (winning) party should be the prime minister. For me, now, we don't know yet. So we should wait until the next general election," she said. - Mkini