PKR Wanita chief: Tanjung Piai reminds us to fight for rakyat, not ourselves
PKR AGM | Pakatan Harapan's crushing defeat in last month's Tanjung Piai by-election in Johor should serve as a lesson on the importance of unity, according to PKR Wanita chief Haniza Talha.
"This is the best example for us to understand the phrase 'together we stand, divided we fall'...
PKR AGM | Pakatan Harapan's crushing defeat in last month's Tanjung Piai by-election in Johor should serve as a lesson on the importance of unity, according to PKR Wanita chief Haniza Talha.
"This is the best example for us to understand the phrase 'together we stand, divided we fall'.
"With the consecutive losses in by-elections, we need to realise and return to our original fight, that is to fight for the rakyat, not for ourselves," Haniza said in her policy speech at the PKR Wanita congress at the Malacca International Trade Centre (MITC) today.
In the Tanjung Piai by-election, Harapan candidate Karmaine Sardini lost to BN's Wee Jeck Seng by 15,086 votes.
PKR is also rocked by infighting between the factions aligned to its president Anwar Ibrahim and his estranged deputy Azmin Ali.
Meanwhile, Haniza also spoke about women's participation in politics, pointing to the first-past-the-post electoral system currently used in Malaysia as one of the obstacles.
"Because every constituency can only have one candidate, efforts to field more women candidates face challenges from male assemblypersons or leaders who want to be candidates.
"To field more women candidates efficiently, we need an electoral system that appoints more than one representative per area, such as with the party-list proportional representation, where candidates can be named in the form of a list and women candidates can be named alternately next to male candidates.
"The conclusion is, in order to break the glass ceiling for women in politics, we need to change our electoral system," she said.
Haniza added that PKR Wanita is advocating for the mixed-member proportional system, as practised in Germany, and submitted a proposal to Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in May.
In order to encourage more women participation in politics, she urged all states to create non-constituency seats for women as well as nominated members in the state assemblies.
She also suggested that one of the two state-appointed Dewan Negara senators be reserved for women.
Haniza also revealed that there is a childcare centre prepared at MITC for the convenience of parents attending the congress.
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