| |
| |
 |
| |
Keadilan |
IF the show of support on Nomination day was anything to go by, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is going to breeze through her defence of her Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat.
The president of opposition party Keadilan and wife of former Deputy PM Anwar Ibrahim has openly declared that after her victory this time, she will step down so he can contest the by-election — when he becomes eligible less than 40 days after the polls.
Thousands turned up at the nomination centre where she filed her papers as a candidate. Dr Wan Azizah, 55, is defending her seat — first won in the 1999 general election when her husband was sentenced to jail on corruption charges —against Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Pirdaus Ismail in a straight fight. Mr Pirdaus is a former National Mosque imam who lost to Dr Wan Azizah in the 2004 polls by a slim margin of 590 votes. An imam is a Muslim spiritual leader who leads the congregation in prayer.
Dr Wan Azizah spoke to reporters as soon as she emerged from the closed-door nomination exercise at Tuanku Bainun Teachers’ College.
Mr Anwar was not by his wife’s side. The couple had decided he should be with his 28-year-old daughter Nurul Izzah in Kuala Lumpur who is contesting the Lembah Pantai parliamentary seat for the first time, taking on incumbent Shahrizat Jalil. “My daughter is contesting a tough seat, so Anwar is there,” said Dr Wan Azizah.
"Although they (the Malaysian government) denied Anwar the right to contest in the elections, there is a provision under law that says if I resign, he can contest in my place,” she said. Mr Anwar is only eligible to stand for office after April 15.
Asked if her husband still harbours hope of becoming Malaysia’s Prime Minister one day, Dr Wan Azizah told Today: “Position is not important to him … serving the people and the nation is.”
Hours before her arrival at the nomination centre at 9am, thousands of opposition supporters had started to converge on a nearby field carrying Keadilan and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) flags. They chanted “Reformasi!” and displayed banners with messages such as “Tak nak BN”, or “Reject BN”.
Taking up opposing sides were Barisan Nasional supporters bearing the ruling coalition’s flags and those of component parties Umno and Gerakan. Some supporters exchanged heated comments with the opposition camp while scores of riot police stood ready for any possible unrest.
Umno candidate Mr Pirdaus appears unfazed by the opposition’s show of optimism. “I only had nine days to lay the groundwork in the last elections and I was inexperienced. Now, I’ve had nearly four years to do my work and get to know the people,” he said.
While Mr Pirdaus stood by the edge of the college grandstand and waved to his supporters, Dr Wan Azizah, on seeing her numerous supporters, decided to step down to greet them.
One of them, businessman Saiful Azhar, 37, had travelled from Kuala Lumpur. “I was also here during the 2004 polls, where the turnout of BN’s supporters was bigger than the opposition’s. Today, I see more Keadilan and PAS supporters,” he noted. He said he was looking forward to Mr Anwar’s by-election contest.
TODAY
|
