Political parties eye women's votes in Malaysia's electoral battleKUALA LUMPUR, Nov 11 (AFP) - A Malaysian opposition party said Thursday it had established special groups to try to win the votes of traditionally conservative rural Malay women in the upcoming elections.Marina Yusof, vice-president of the National Justice Party led by the wife of detained ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim, said the party had embarked on a program to persuade women to vote for change -- especially those who seldom ventured out or followed national developments. "Our message to them is: 'If you want to save the country then you should be on our side'," she told AFP. Marina said the party faced an uphill task because the ruling front controlled the mass media. She also acknowledged that older women voters were staunch supporters of the United Malays National Organisation led by Premier Mahathir Mohamad, but said the young ones appeared to be supportive to the idea of a strong opposition. Siti Zaharah Sulaiman, chief of UMNO's women's wing, expressed confidence women would stay loyal to the ruling National Front coalition. UMNO is the dominant member in the coalition with its traditional power base being ethnic Malays in the rural areas. It has ruled for 42 years since independence in 1957 as part of a coalition. Siti Zaharah urged women to make what she called a wise choice for the sake of the country and future generations. It was impossible that all the Front's good work could be forgotten just because of certain individuals, she was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency. But political analysts say the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim in September 1998 and his subsequent jailing has divided the politically dominant Malays. Mahathir Wednesday announced a snap general election, saying he was confident of retaining the Front's two-thirds parliamentary majority. |
