Penang's BN Opposition leader finds an unlikely ally in the DAP exco, who says women should not be bullied and given due respect.
GEORGE TOWN: Pakatan Rakyat stateexecutive councillor Chong Eng came to the defence of BN Opposition leader Jahara Hamid, saying that women should not be bullied and insulted.
Chong Eng said women in high-ranking positions should be given equal respect and appreciation as their male counterparts.
“I agree that women should not be bullied anywhere, anytime,” she said in her winding-up speech on the state Budget 2014 at the assembly session, concurring to a suggestion by Jahara.
Chong Eng (DAP-Padang Lalang) was making proposals to improve gender equality when Jahara (BN-Teluk Air Tawar) suggested that women should never be bullied and insulted.
Jahara, the first woman state opposition leader in the country, said women should also not be subjected to insulting name-calling.
She was firing a broadside against Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng who called the Opposition leader a “racist grandmother.”
Following Jahara’s outburst demanding an apology, Lim offered a conditional apology by omitting the word “grandmother,” but insisted he would still label her as racist.
Earlier, Chong Eng told the assembly that the federal government should enact a legislation to compel all political parties to field at least 30% women candidates in elections.
To this, Yap Soo Huey (DAP-Pulau Tikus) proposed a 70% gender limitation for candidates, arguing that it would enable women candidates to make up to 70% candidates.
Chong Eng said this can be implemented, citing the Labour Party in Australia as an example.
The Labour Party used a 40-40-20 formula to give equal 40% share of candidature among men and women, while the remaining 20% is open to all genders.
“Therefore no gender exceeded 60% of party candidature,” said Chong Eng.
Speaker Law Choo Kiang allotted more time for the debate on gender equality and pointed out that 54% of voters in Penang were women. fmt
No comments:
Post a Comment