KUCHING, July 6: Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) Central Women chief Kho Teck Wan today criticised Pakatan Harapan (PH) for not honouring its election pledge to have a minimum of 30 per cent women in the federal cabinet.
Kho said there were only five female ministers and four female deputy ministers.
“This is only 17 per cent of women representation. PH has 21 female MPs, which is more than enough to make up for the shortage,” she said in a statement.
On a related matter, Kho said she was delighted that Yeo Bee Yin was appointed Minister of Energy, Technology, Science, Climate Change and Environment.
She opined that Yeo was well qualified for the post, and she hoped Yeo would introduce new ideas and initiatives to the sciences and technology sectors in the country.
“Similar to the late Chief Minister Pehin Sri Adenan Satem, who banned the issuance of new logging licences in Sarawak, it is time for the rest of our policy makers to take more proactive approaches in environmental conservation.
“I hope Yeo’s appointment will inspire more women to pursue both politics and science as their fields of specialisation,” Kho said.
Kho also congratulated Sarawak MPs Baru Bian and Chong Chieng Jen on their appointments as Minister of Works and Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, respectively.
However, she opined that Sarawakians should question the PH government on the low number of Sarawak representation even though the state PH had 13 MPs.
“Meanwhile, I would like to remind our Sarawak PH MPs of their promises to return the 50 per cent tax collected to Sarawak, to increase the payment of oil royalty to 20 per cent, and to return the autonomy for healthcare and education.
“As a local party, SUPP will support the fight for Sarawak’s autonomy, irrespective of our political preferences,” she said. — DayakDaily
