DAP fields highest number of women candidates - wing’s chief

Amid grumblings of insufficient women representation in the 15th general election (GE15), DAP has announced that the party is fielding the highest number of women candidates in the poll.

According to DAP Women's Wing chief Chong Eng (above), 25 percent (14 out of 55) of its candidates contesting in the election are women, which is higher than the 13.6 percent (88 women) of the total number of candidates going to the poll.

"This is a milestone achieved since the DAP started to look into methods to increase the number of women's participation in politics in 2016.

“And DAP has achieved 30 percent women in its central executive committee this year through the quota system," she said in a statement today.

Based on the list of candidates announced so far, Chong Eng said that BN is fielding 19 women candidates (11 percent), and Perikatan Nasional, 14 women candidates (9.3 percent), while Pakatan Harapan is represented by 40 women candidates (18 percent).

"Of the 43 parliamentary seats that MCA is contesting, seven of them are women candidates which is 16 percent while the DAP, in contesting 55 seats, sends 14 women or 25.4 percent to the battlefield," she said.

Given the numbers, it would be "mission impossible" to reach the 30 percent women's quota in Parliament, she added. This is especially when all contesting women candidates will make it into the parliament, she noted.

As such, besides fielding more women candidates to contest in elections, new approaches should also be adopted to meet the quota, stressed Chong Eng, who is also Padang Lalang state assemblyperson.

"Women make up 48.64 percent of the country's population and increasing the number of women candidates helps push for the well-being and interests of mothers, children, seniors, the disabled, and families.

"More females, especially mothers who are lawmakers will help the Parliament and cabinet to make more inclusive policies."

To this end, the Election Act should be amended to require political parties to ensure a certain percentage of women candidates are fielded in future elections, Chong Eng concluded.

Zahid explains why it is 'raining men' in BN

Wanita Umno info chief: Did BN leaders forget 30pct women candidates vow?

LETTER | What happened to greater women representation?

First-time women candidates are not just here to fill quotas