PARTI Keadilan Rakyat's (PKR) women's wing must turn disappointment over Pakatan Harapan's recent state election defeats into renewed grassroots action, with its chief Fadhlina Sidek calling on members to knock on doors and reconnect with women voters nationwide.
She said the party could no longer afford to dwell on its losses, urging the women's wing to begin engaging communities at branch level immediately after the Keadilan Congress 2026 ends on Sunday.
“Starting Monday, once we return from the congress, we must knock on every door. Restore our role at the grassroots as the voice of women and focus on women voters.
“A woman's kitchen is the most important place to do political work. Start with the women's kitchen. Ask them, do you have rice today, do you have enough sugar and salt, how many times a day do your children eat?” she said.
Fadhlina said such engagement was essential to restoring the party's connection with ordinary women and strengthening its image as a political force that understood their daily concerns.
“That is what we mean by knocking on doors and restoring the image of women voting for women for justice,” she said in her policy speech at the PKR National Women's Congress 2026 at the Melaka International Trade Centre (MITC) today.
She described the forthcoming state elections in Melaka and Sarawak as pivotal to PKR's survival and its preparations for the 16th General Election (GE16).
“Melaka is very important to us. We must carry out the same groundwork and deploy all our best warriors. Continue with the training, and for Sarawak, which is coming up, we must organise from now.
“When we look at how we lost in the previous state elections, we know the feeling of losing, of being sad and angry. So, we must strengthen the organisation again, reinforce election training and win the hearts of women across Malaysia,” she said.
Fadhlina also pressed the party to field more women candidates, saying female leaders must be given greater opportunities to contest in elections.
“When we enter an election, we must field women candidates. Whatever the challenges, there must be women candidates. I want 30 per cent women.
“Now is the time to identify leaders with the qualities to become election candidates. We have to prepare them and put them forward,” she added. - August 14, 2026