SHAH ALAM - Ahead of the 15th General Election (GE15) nomination day on Nov 5, the National Council of Malaysian Women's Organisations (NCWO) is calling on each political party to field more women to contest in winnable seats.
The organisation has formed a group called "Pantau PRU15” to keep an eye on women representation in the coming election.
Among the motions proposed by the group were to uphold a mature and inclusive democracy by ensuring that at least 30 per cent of GE15 candidates were women and that these women candidates were winnable candidates.
The group also wanted candidates (women and men) who have calibre, integrity and an excellent track record in delivering their services towards the betterment of the people and dared to speak up in eliminating gender inequality and protect the welfare of women and children
"Accepting the fact that the increase in the number of women as candidates and representatives give an added value to the quality of governance and performance of the party.
"It will also improve the image of the country which has declined in the eyes of the world related to women's leadership in politics and respect the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDG 2030) aimed at achieving gender equality and women's empowerment by 2030,” NCWO said in a statement.
Therefore, NCWO said the effort of every political party in fulfilling its promises of at least 30 per cent women as candidates on the nomination day will be monitored, analysed and publicised by PantauPRU15 to guarantee Malaysia as a country that is inclusive of women.