Nurul Izzah may defend Permatang Pauh seat, Anwar hints

BAYAN LEPAS - Penang PKR chairman Nurul Izzah Anwar is likely to contest the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat in the 15th General Election (GE15) in November.

PKR President Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim suggestively said this to the media on Saturday night after he attended the Penang PKR Dinner at the Spice Arena here.

"Let me give you the 'scoop', she is possibly heading in that direction (defending the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat).

"It is very likely to happen," he said.

The Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat was previously the stronghold of Anwar and his family, who held the parliamentary seat since 1982.

Nurul Izzah won the seat in GE14 with a majority of over 15,000 votes.

Commenting on the rumour that Nurul Izzah will contest in Ampang, Anwar jokingly said that the matter would be considered.

"Why do you want to push her (Nurul Izzah) to Ampang? I had other thoughts when you suggested this.

"I have time to give consideration (for Nurul Izzah to compete in Ampang)," he said.

In the meantime, Anwar was determined to reclaim the seat he lost after he was betrayed by the party's defecting candidate.

Without mentioning their names, Anwar labelled them as traitors and said that the seats filled by leaders who betrayed the party should be reclaimed.

"The traitor's head is in Gombak and his tail is in Nibong Tebal.

"They are now carrying the narrative that they never left the party but were fired.

“That’s true, if you have left the court, then you leave whether you are fired or not, it is just a process," Anwar said.

Regarding whether the party had decided on the candidates who would compete in those seats, he said that the selected candidates were very authoritative.

"It is not just a candidate but a clear policy," he said.

Last February 2020, 11 PKR MPs declared their exit from the party and left PH to form an independent bloc in Parliament.

Among them were Gombak MP Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin and Nibong Tebal MP Datuk Mansor Othman.