PETALING JAYA, Sept 26 — The contest for Puteri Umno chief has simmered down without much ado as the movement’s role fades from the limelight. With incumbent chief Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin stepping down because of age limit (Puteri movement and chief must be below 40), two aspirants are trying to fill up the vacant post.
Masjid Tanah MP and Malacca Puteri chief Ermieyati Samsudin, 37, is on a one-to-one fight with outgoing Petaling Jaya Selatan Puteri chief Jamilah Hanim Othman, 38.
Ermieyati, who is a lawyer by profession, plans to meet the movement grassroots to explain her vision and mission, while Jamilah pledged her full commitment to rejuvenate the movement.
Both also said they would leave it to the delegates to decide who would lead the movement.
The privilege in being a Puteri chief is that the winner will sit in the party leadership line-up as a vice-president and if party president Datuk Seri Najib Razak follows tradition, the Puteri chief will also be made a deputy minister.
Puteri movement was at its peak when it was first set up in 2002 under the leadership of Datuk Azalina Othman Said but slowly the “heat” simmered down and under Rosnah’s leadership, the movement has been considered tame when the movement lost control of young Malay women in universities.
The 2008 general election and the recent May 5 general election were proof that the movement failed to get the young voters to rally behind Barisan Nasional (BN).
