KOTA KINABALU: Women voters in Sabah have been urged to rally behind Datin Linda Tsen, the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the Nov 4 Batu Sapi by-election.
WOMEN'S POWER: Linda (2nd right) and Musa (3rd right) with Pairin (4th right), Puteri Umno chief Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Sharlin (right), Datuk VK Liew (5th right) and other BN component leaders raising their hands to introduce Linda as the BN candidate for Batu Sapi by-election.
They should come together to help her achieve a big victory, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) president Datuk VK Liew said.
The Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said all this while, women wanted to have better representation in Parliament.
“So this is the opportunity for them to make their wish come true. They must rally behind Linda and help her to attain a resounding victory,” he said.
Linda will be following in the footsteps of her late husband, Datuk Edmund Chong, the Batu Sapi Member of Parliament who was killed in a tragic road accident early this month.
According to Liew, nominating the late Edmund’s widow was a good decision given the circumstances.
“Linda is qualified and she has been in party politics for a long time with her late husband. I have no doubt she can handle the situation well. This is also a recognition to women and this reflects well on the image of BN, Liew stressed.
Fellow BN component member, United Pasokmomogun KadazanDusun Murut Organization (UPKO) secretary general Datuk Wilfred Madius Tangau was of the opinion that it was natural to expect more women to support BN with Linda as its candidate.
UPKO, he added would work hard to ensure a resounding victory for BN in the by-election irrespective of who is the candidate.
Both said this when asked if “woman power” will be enough for BN to retain the Batu Sapi seat and will the Coalition’s chances be better than fielding a male candidate in the by-election on November 4.
Meanwhile, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Sabah deputy chairperson Christina Liew when asked the same question said gender had nothing to do with the results as it was the voters who would decide the winner.
“We are all equal. It must be remembered that PKR’s president is a woman and she has performed her duty very well as the first woman president of a political party in Malaysia,” she stressed.