GE15: Nurul Izzah's defeat ending Anwar Ibrahim's legacy in Permatang Pauh

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Nurul Izzah - Bernama Photo
PERMATANG PAUH - Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s legacy in Permatang Pauh ended when his daughter, Nurul Izzah Anwar lost the battle to defend the seat in the 15th General Election (GE15).

Representing Pakatan Harapan (PH) Nurul Izzah was defeated by Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate Muhammad Fawwaz Mat Jan (PN-PAS) with a majority of 5,272 votes.

Muhammad Fawwaz, who is also Penang PAS Youth chief when met at the tallying centre for Permatang Pauh expressed his gratitude and said he hoped that he could fulfil his promises to the Permatang Pauh folks in the next five years.

"I would like to apologise if I have made any mistake during the campaigning and I intend to unite Permatang Pauh. We are all brothers and sisters," he told reporters at the National Youth Advanced Skills Institute (IKTBN) in Bukit Mertajam, accompanied by Penang PAS Commissioner Ustaz Muhammad Fauzi Yusoff here this morning.

Anwar first won the seat in the sixth general election in April 1982 on the Barisan Nasional (BN) ticket when he defeated Zabidi Ali of PAS with a 14,352-vote majority.

Anwar, who was born in Cherok Tok Kun, Bukit Mertajam, Penang, retained the seat until he was imprisoned on April 14,1999.

His wife, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail proceeded to win the seat in GE10 in Nov 1999.

After he was released from prison on Sept 2, 2004, Anwar was banned from participating in politics for five years.

Dr Wan Azizah continued to retain the seat and on July 31, 2008, she vacated it to make way for Anwar to contest the by-election in August 2008, of which the latter won with a majority of 15,671 votes defeating BN candidate Datuk Arif Shah Omar Shah.

In GE13, Anwar beat contenders Mazlan Ismail (BN) and Abdullah Zawawi Samsudin (independent) to retain the Permatang Pauh seat with an 11,721-vote majority.

However, Anwar was sentenced to five years in prison after he was found guilty of sodomising his assistant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, and the conviction was upheld by the Federal Court on Feb 10, 2015.

His eligibility as a Member of Parliament for Permatang Pauh was stripped and Anwar was disqualified as a representative after the Pardons Board rejected his application for a royal pardon.

In the by-election held on May 2015, Wan Azizah managed to retain the seat, defeating her challenger Suhaimi Sabudin (BN-UMNO) with a majority of 8,841 votes.

In GE14, Nurul Izzah who was the incumbent Lembah Pantai MP won the Permatang Pauh seat defeating Datuk Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said (BN-UMNO) with a majority of 15,668 votes. - BERNAMA