More women candidates to contest in GE14, says Shahrizat

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 the list of candidates which would later be submitted to party president Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, who is also the Barisan Nasional Chairman.

"I have been on the lookout for potential candidates, so yes we do have the list, and when the Prime Minister calls me to submit (the list) then we will do it.

"But we are also working with the women themselves, because I need to get their profiles. So, 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 after attending the 'Women Power Talk - Effective Networking' forum organised by Wanita Umno today.

However, Shahrizat refused to divulge details on the number of candidates but stated it was more than the previous 13th 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 able to win the seats and be accepted by the voters.

"I am sure more and more women out there are qualified to be a Member of Parliament and I think it's a question of which constituencies they want to contest in," he said. — Bernama