KL Islamic party opens to women

KL Islamic party opens to women

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia's Islamic opposition party is opening up to give women a bigger say in its forthcoming annual assembly, its leader said on Tuesday.

For the first time, women will sit as delegates at the Parti Islam SeMalaysia's (PAS) general assembly from June 1 to June 3 at its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, said PAS president Fadzil Noor.

PAS has more than 700,000 members and at least half of them are women, he added.

PAS gained popularity in the November 1999 general election, when it more than tripled its parliamentary seats to 27. It captured the eastern state of Terengganu, and maintained control over neighboring Kelantan.

Anger over the sacking and jailing of ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim helped split the ethnic Malay vote, at the expense of the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO).