Malaysia election: Anwar Ibrahim hints that daughter will defend family seat

It is highly likely that Nurul Izzah Anwar, daughter of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, will defend the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat in Malaysia’s upcoming general election.

“The possibility is in that direction (Nurul defending Permatang Pauh), a big possibility, a very big one,” Datuk Seri Anwar said during a press conference at a fundraising dinner for Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) in Penang on Saturday evening.

Earlier, there had been talking that his daughter Nurul Izzah would contest in Ampang, with PKR Wanita chief Senator Fadhlina Sidek replacing her in Permatang Pauh.

Nurul Izzah had previously voiced her intention to defend her Permatang Pauh seat in the upcoming polls but added that party leaders would have the final say on seat allocation. The ward in Penang state has been a safe seat for the Anwar family since Anwar won it in 1982 while he was still with Malaysia’s grand old party Umno. His wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail stood in for him and defended the seat when he was jailed in 1999 after a fallout with then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

“I hope that I will not be dropped from being a candidate here (Permatang Pauh),” she said at another event last month.

In the last general election in 2018, she won the seat for Pakatan Harapan after defeating Datuk Mohd Zaidi Said from Barisan Nasional (BN) and Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden from Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) with a 15,668-vote majority. Datuk Seri Anwar was then still in jail on a contentious sodomy charge and could not contest in the polls. He was released from prison after receiving a royal pardon shortly after Pakatan Harapan won the election.

Agencies