UMNO AGM | Umno Wanita chief Noraini Ahmad wants the party to reward the wing's loyalty by fielding 30 percent female candidates in the next general election.

The higher education minister cited the defection of many male lawmakers for seeking more female representation.

"Jump, the frogs jumped. So many men had defected, but the women remain loyal," she said when delivering her policy speech at the Umno Wanita annual general assembly.

"It is hard for the Wanita members to defect from the party. The majority of the defectors are male.

"So, I call on the party president to look at woman candidates (when going through the candidates for the next elections)," she said.

While Malaysia is on track in strengthening women's political position in the country, she said female representatives in politics still remained low.

Only two out of a total of 17 Umno MPs who had defected, mainly to Bersatu, were women MPs.

The country currently has 33 women MPs out of 222, representing 14.86 percent of the total lawmakers.

Meanwhile, Noraini, despite being part of Muhyiddin Yassin's cabinet, appeared to have "disassociated" herself from the ruling coalition. She even labelled Perikatan Nasional an "interim government".

"Although we have become part of the government, this does not mean we are giving the interim government the green light to act arbitrarily," she said.

"This does not mean that even if I am on the same stage, we need to adhere to every single decision and move that could tarnish the trust of the people.

"So, join me to keep the government's action in check," said Noraini.

She also said Umno Wanita supports the party's decision to not cooperate with PKR and DAP and to sever ties with Bersatu in the 15th general election.

"I want to stress here that Wanita Umno supports the supreme council's decision. No DAP. No PKR. We agree that it is hard for Umno and Bersatu to sleep on the same pillow as we have different aspirations."

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