Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is most qualified to be PKR's candidate for the Permatang Pauh by-election, said party secretary-general Rafizi Ramli.

He said the plus points for Wan Azizah, who is also Kajang assemblyman, included the fact that she had been the MP for the seat before.

"I fully support her candidature," he told reporters at Parliament Thursday.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia on Wednesday had declared that the seat, held by PKR de facto leader and Wan Azizah's husband, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, vacant following the Pardons Board rejecting a petition for a royal pardon over his sodomy conviction.

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Anwar is currently serving a five-year jail sentence for sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.