Despite her disgrace, Shahrizat wants Wanita Umno to be the BN's BACKBONE

Despite her disgrace over the the RM250mil NFC corruption debacle, Umno Women's chief Shahrizat Jalil is still hungry for the political limelight, urging Prime Minister Najib Razak to make the Wanita division the backbone of the ruling BN coalition.

The former Women's minister who was forced to step down after her husband was charged for criminal breach of trust in the NFC scandal lamented that Wanita - which she said had 1.3 million members - was still regarded as a "wing" of the Umno party.

Given that several leaders within the BN coalition had demanded her resignation during the height of the debacle, it is unlikely that Najib - who is also the Umno president - will be able to pay heed to her advice.

Even now, within Umno, there are demands for her to step down as the Wanita chief. Her own deputy Kamilia Ibrahim has complained it was hard to gain the respect of women members and that they were often greeted with laughter and derided as the "cow' party due to the connection to NFC - which is a national cattle breeding project.

Unfazed by fallout from NFC debacle

Unfazed by the negative sentiments towards her and the BN as a result of the allegations her family had siphoned off millions of ringgit to purchase personal properties and businesses using public funds, Shahrizat focused on the Wanita's charity programme Skuad Sayang (or Care Squad).

“To reach the hearts of the voters, we must earn their respect. There must be discipline (among us). If we care for people, no matter what the situation, they will always be with us,” she was quoted as saying by Oriental Daily, a Chinese-language paper.

“If we are responsible in performing tasks, they will respect us even until we are 80 (years). It is not about age and wealth, but what we contribute towards the upcoming general election."

No minister looking out for Women now, Najib not in sight

She urged party members to accept all candidates put forward by Najib in the coming general election, widely expected to be in November this year. However, she also called on UMNO to field more women candidates - in line with her expressed wish for Wanita to be elevated to being the BN's backbone.

“It is impossible that with 1.3 million women in the party, there are no appropriate candidates. This concept must be corrected,” Shahrizat said.

A lawyer by training, Shahrizat lost her Lembah Pantai parliamentary seat to newbie Nurul Izzah Anwar in 2008. She was then made a senator and appointed the Women, family and community development Minister in April 2009. When she relinquished her Cabinet post upon expiry of her Senator's appointment earlier this year, Najib took over the women's ministry.

So far, as Malaysia's first-ever Women's minister, Najib has been slammed for doing little for women in the country. The latest criticism against him is his failure to speak up for women and fight for their protection when the judiciary recently let off lightly several rapists although the victims were underage girls.

Malaysia Chronicle