Wan Azizah to contest Permatang Pauh again

PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has once again been named as the candidate for the Permatang Pauh by-election which will take place on May 7.

The announcement was made by the party’s deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali at the Seberang Perai Arena here late Friday.

The event to announce the by-election candidate was attended by Pakatan Rakyat leaders, including DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, PAS central working committee member Dr Hatta Ramli and PKR Youth deputy chief, Dr Afif Bahardin.

Wan Azizah, who had held the seat in 1999, 2004 and 2008, will be contesting against Barisan Nasional’s Suhaimi Sabudin.

Nomination for the Permatang Pauh by-election will be held on Saturday, with early voting to take place on May 3.

The by-election was called after its incumbent MP, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, was disqualified as a parliamentarian following his sodomy conviction earlier in February. He is currently serving a five-year jail sentence for sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

The Permatang Pauh parliament constituency has been a PKR stronghold since 1982. Anwar had won the seat in 1982, 1986, 1990 and 1995 before he was sent to prison for six years in 1999 after being found guilty of four counts of corruption, including abuse of power.

Wan Azizah then took over as Permatang Pauh MP from 1999 until 2008 before stepping down to make way for her husband to contest the seat again after he was released in 2004.