Empowering women in PRS
KUCHING: Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) is widely tipped to field two women in the General Election (GE14).
However, PRS president, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Amar Dr James Masing who insisted on having a Dayak woman elected as MP on his party’s ticket before his retirement was tightlipped when contacted by The Borneo Post to name the candidates yesterday.
“I had put Dato Sri Doris Sophia Brodie as a senator and later as the first Dayak lady Deputy Speaker of Dewan Negara. Before I retire I would like to see a Dayak lady to be an elected representative from PRS.
“I am getting old, therefore, new blood must be injected into Parti Rakyat Sarawak .The struggle to better Sarawak and the community must continue,” he said.
He said that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak recently said he wanted 30% of positions of authority in Government Link Companies and in other fields to be filled by ladies.
“In this ‘field’ (political arena) Dayak society did very badly. We have none!” he stressed.
Despite Masing’s reluctance to name the women candidates, party insiders have told The Borneo Post that the two women in the list he submitted to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for GE14 were PRS Wanita chief Dato Sri Doris Sophia Brodie and Rita Insol PRS Tamin Wanita Bureau chief.
When the two ladies’ names were mentioned to Masing yesterday as the women candidates for his party he dismissed it as speculation.
“Ya kah? Its speculative talk,” he said.
Doris has been bandied as the candidate to replace two-term Lubok Antu MP Datuk William Nyalau Badak while Rita is tipped to replace Selangau MP, PRS deputy president Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun.
Rita is a logical choice to replace Entulu as Tamin is within the Parliamentary constituency of Selangau and she has strong grassroots support there.
Rita is also the Sarawak Dayak Oil Palm Planters Association (Doppa) vice president.
She went to Kolej Tuanku Haji Bujang Miri for her upper secondary education before taking up law in University of Malaya and later obtained her MBA from Herriot Watt University.