GE14: Rohani hopes 30% of BN candidates will be women

SEPANG: Women, Family and Community Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim (pix) hopes that 30% of Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates in the 14th General Election (GE14) are women.
Rohani, who is also Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Wanita deputy chief, said every BN component party chairman had been advised to consider fielding women candidates in the GE14.
"Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak) has taken steps to inform every BN component party to see that there are additional women candidates," she told a media conference at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), here today.
Asked on the feedback from the BN component parties on the matter, she said most of them gave positive response but the final decision would only be known during the nomination day on April 28.
She had also directed the Women Development Department to conduct a study on the number of women candidates being chosen and those who managed to win in GE14.
"From the statistics of women being nominated and winning, we will see the voters' trend. Perhaps the voters are not ready to (select women candidates) and so on," she said.
She said a special secretariat was also set up under the department to conduct studies and the results would be shared in drafting the next plan in empowering women in the political arena.
In the GE13, 168 individuals or eight per cent out of the total 1,900 candidates contesting were women candidates representing the BN, opposition or as independents.
Out of this total, BN has 22 women candidates in Parliament and 49 in the state legislative assemblies.
On the BN's plans to empower women, Rohani said the BN manifesto for the GE14 has incorporated a special initiative which clearly showed the importance of women's role in the country in line with the Year of Women Empowerment 2018. — Bernama