NOW OR NEVER FOR ANWAR'S DAUGHTER NURUL IZZAH? AS SUNGAI BAKAP POLLS BECKON, CAN THE FORMER PRINCESS OF PAKATAN RECLAIM HER TIARA?

 

Written by Stan Lee, PoliticsNow!

KUALA LUMPUR (politicsnowmy.blogspot.com) - Ahead of the unveiling of a candidate from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's party to stand for a surprise by-election, the name of his eldest daughter Nurul Izzah has cropped up again.

Once a darling of voters and even seen as a future prime minister candidate, Nurul appears to have fallen on hard times politically - failing to defend her father's stronghold seat of Permatang Pauh although her dad and their Pakatan Harapan coalition managed to forge on and form the country's current government.

"You can say it's now or never for Nurul. Her father may have appointed her as adviser to the national economic council but even that stirred up cries of nepotism. So Sungai Bakap may be the right one for her to avoid such accusations since it is a state seat in Penang," a veteran analyst told PoliticsNow!  

"If Nurul wants to be back in active politics, she needs her own win. She cannot rely on 'gifts' or senator-ships from Anwar and the fact is, she is no longer that young or that popular anymore. In fact, you could say her star has faded quite a bit and no one can tell what she is capable of anymore. She needs to show she still has that oomph that once made her the princess of Pakatan."

Be that as it may, the chances of Anwar's PKR party wresting the seat for Pakatan from ex-prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin's PN coalition is not strong. As such, Anwar may opt not to field his daughter as another loss would harm rather than enhance her political credentials.

Pakatan, the ruling coalition, is made up of four parties - PKR, DAP, Amanah and Upko. Although they could not win enough seats in the 2022 general election to form a government, they managed to strike deals to create a unity government with ex-rival Umno, East Malaysian coalitions GPS and GRS.

UNDERDOGS

The PKR candidate for Sungai Bakap is due to be named on Wednesday (June 12).

“The list of candidates has been submitted to PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the Election Department. The candidate has been screened by the Penang State Leadership Council," Economy Minister and PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli told reporters at the launching of campaign machinery at Sungai Bakap last night.

“We will present the chosen name as the candidate according to the process at the unity government Leadership Consultative Council Meeting on Tuesday. That is the process even though it is PKR contesting, our allies will approve it.”

According to Rafizi, PKR would be the underdogs despite Pakatan being in power at both the federal and Penang state government levels.

Indeed, the death of the late incumbent assemblyman from Pas party, Nor Zamri Latiff, on May 24 due to illness may spark sympathy votes for his chosen successor.  

“We accept the fact that we enter this by-election as the underdogs, but we are confident of reclaiming the Sungai Bakap seat that was briefly lent to PN,” Rafizi said.

The Election Commission has set July 6 as polling day for the by-election, with nominations to be held on June 22 and early voting on July 2.

In the last state election, Nor Zamri, who was PAS Nibong Tebal president, defeated PH’s Nurhidayah Che Ros with a majority of 1,563 votes.

Written by Stan Lee, PoliticsNow!

PoliticsNow!