PORT DICKSON: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has defended the move by PKR to vacate the Port Dickson seat to make way for her husband’s return to parliament.
The outgoing PKR president said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was denied his right to contest in elections for 10 years when he was jailed for sodomy.
“Why did we hold this election? This is because Anwar was denied of his right to contest for many years.
“So I urge everyone here to vote for him,” Dr Wan Azizah said in her speech to campaign for Anwar, who is PKR’s candidate for the Port Dickson parliamentary by-election.
Pakatan Harapan chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is the prime minister, is the main guest of the rally.
Among the PH leaders present were Parti Amanah Negara president Mohamad Sabu; DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng; DAP organising secretary Anthony Loke Siew Fook; and PKR secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
The Port Dickson by-election was called after incumbent Datuk Danyal Balagopal Abdullah vacated the seat to make way for Anwar’s return to parliament.
Anwar is currently locked in a seven-cornered battle which contenders include former menteri besar Tan Sri Isa Samad and the PKR president-elect’s former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.