PERMATANG PAUH - Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, chairman of Pakatan Harapan (PH), said the coalition must recover from their loss in Permatang Pauh during the 15th General Election (GE15) by winning the three state seats in the upcoming state polls.
Although the defeat saddened him, the premier conceded and respected the people's decision.
"It's okay that we recently lost at Permatang Pauh... I'm a little sad in many ways, but it's okay. I respect the decision.
"This time, I call upon the Penanti, Permatang Pasir, and Seberang Jaya candidates and those in other areas to win with style," he said at the Guar Perahu People's Square on Saturday.
In the last GE15, the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat, which had been Anwar's Parti Keadilan Rakyat's stronghold for 40 years, was successfully wrestled by Perikatan Nasional (PN).
His daughter, Nurul Izzah, who held the seat, lost to PN candidate Muhammad Fawwaz Mat Jan with a majority of 5,272 votes in a four-cornered fight.
In the historic win, Muhammad Fawwaz received 37,638 votes and Nurul Izzah 32,366 votes, while Datuk Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said (BN) received 16,971 votes and Mohd Nasir Othman (Pejuang-Putra) only gained 473 votes.
The Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat is synonymous with Anwar's family legacy and was also held by his wife, Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, in GE12.
Meanwhile, Anwar said he is confident that PH will continue to dominate Penang, Selangor, and Negeri Sembilan in the state elections and be able to wrest Kedah from PN. He said this includes the Jeneri state seat held by Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Sanusi Md Nor.
"God willing, the three states ruled by PH before are still strong in our hands. I also see the possibility of us capturing Kedah following the excellent reception when I went down there on Friday, including in Jeneri, where thousands of people greeted me.
"I don't want to be arrogant, but I believe we could win at least four states in the upcoming state polls," he said.
Anwar added that whether or not PH captures three or four states on August 12th will not have a significant impact as PH's position remains strong at the parliamentary level and will continue to support the unity government's administration.