KOTA TINGGI, Feb 26 — A group of 30 women led by Rosnah Suliman from Felda Sungai Sibol joined PKR today, boosting the Opposition party’s morale as the Johor election campaign officially started.

Rosnah brought with her 29 others, claiming they were previously with the ruling Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) and now wanted to help the Tenggara PKR division campaign for the Pasir Raja state constituency in the March 12 vote.

However, she did not share the reason they left Bersatu, saying she preferred to "let what happened there, stay there”.

"Personally, what I hope for is something different, a place which provides opportunities for women to work,” she said in a press conference at the Pasir Raja PKR operations centre.

PKR election director Fuziah Salleh the 30 women and said that while the group may be small in number, having locals not only support but join their campaign meant a lot as there were four Felda settlements within Pasir Raja, which has traditionally been a vite bank for the Umno-led Barisan Nasional coalition.

Fuziah said that membership for the 30 women will only be processed after PKR concludes its internal election in June.

But she commended Rosnah and the other women for choosing PKR.

Fuziah touted PKR as a party that honours women by giving them positions of importance, listing former president Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as an example.

"They joined now, they can’t even vote in the party election. It shows that they are sincere to work for the party,” she said.

Rosnah handed in the membership application papers to Tenggara PKR chief Shamsuri Shahdan, who said he knew her when they worked together to provide food aid for the poor in the area at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pasir Raja is a state seat under the greater Tenggara parliamentary constituency with 28,045 registered voters who are mostly under age 40.

Four people are fighting to win the state seat. PKR is fielding 34-year-old Fakharuddin Moslem. The other three are the Pasir Raja incumbent from BN Rashidah Ismail, Perikatan Nasional’s Intan Jawahir, and Mohd Yusri Mohd Yusof, the sole male candidate from Pejuang.