JOHOR BARU: The Johor state election will see more women candidates contesting compared with the 14th General Election (GE14) in 2018.

       In the current state election, 37 women candidates were nominated compared with 28 candidates in GE14.

       Based on the list of candidates, Barisan Nasional is fielding the biggest number of women candidates at 14.

       Its candidates - Nor Rashidah Ramli for Parit Raja seat and Rashidah Ismail for Pasir Raja - are among those retained by Barisan to defend the seats they won in 2018.

       Barisan is also fielding Kelly Chye Pei Yee, 26, in Mengkibol. She is among the youngest candidates in this state election.

       Pakatan Harapan has also picked eight women candidates to win back the state seats for the coalition after a political polemic, which saw the Pakatan government fall in February 2020.

       Johor DAP Wanita Publicity secretary Marina Ibrahim was among the women candidates standing in the election for Pakatan.

       Apart from that, the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda), which is contesting for the first time, is fielding the party’s secretary-general Amira Aisya Abd Aziz as the candidate for Puteri Wangsa constituency and Nur Afiqah M. Zulkifli as the Bukit Kepong candidate.

       Perikatan Nasional is also featuring six women candidates while Parti Pejuang Tanah Air has four and PKR three. - Bernama