More women candidates expected

KUALA LUMPUR: Wanita Umno expects more women candidates to contest in the coming 14th general election, said its chief Tan Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

She said the wing had compiled a list of candidates which would later be submitted to party president Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, who is also Barisan Nasional chairman.

“We are also working with the women because I need to get their profiles. I think they have to be motivated because a lot of them have the potential but some may feel they are not ready when they actually are,” she told reporters yesterday after attending the Women Power Talk - Effective Networking forum organised by Wanita Umno.

Shahrizat declined to reveal the number of candidates but stated it was more than during the previous general election.

Second Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani, who was also present at the event, said whoever the candidates might be, men or women, they must be accepted by the voters and be able to win the seat.

“I am sure more and more women are qualified to be a Member of Parliament and I think it is a question of which constituencies they want to contest in,” he said. – Bernama