No fidgeting, it’s back to Permatang Pauh
That’s typical Anwar style – a showman through and through.
By Syed Nadzri Syed Harun, FMT
After all the fidgeting, Anwar Ibrahim is back to his old Permatang Pauh in this general election (GE).
But was there any doubt in the first place that the PKR leader would leave this parliamentary seat where he once beat Mohamad Sabu and risk it all in an unfamiliar terrain? Tambun, Lumut, Lembah Pantai where he might even be slaughtered?
But that’s Anwar for you. A showman through and through. The “I will announce it tomorrow night” trick.
Someone suggested he could go to Baling though since this was the Kedah district that pushed him into the limelight 40 years ago when, as a student leader and rabble-rouser, he led a raucous protest against poverty.
But Baling is not exactly the type of constituency “befitting” of Anwar now – not metropolitan enough like, say, Petaling Jaya Utara (but that’s a DAP seat) or Shah Alam (that’s PAS’) or Bandar Tun Razak (PKR).
That’s why, according to some, he was at one time contemplating contesting in Lembah Pantai – firstly to be seen as representing the hip and urbane Bangsar crowd and secondly to swap with daughter Nurul Izzah on assumption that Permatang Pauh would be easier for her.
But reports apparently came in that Lembah Pantai would be tough, even for Papa.
So, it is Permatang Pauh, the tried and tested again. The return to neighbourhood rounds and familiar faces in Tanah Liat, Kubang Semang, Sungai Semambu and Penanti.
Umno ticket
Permatang Pauh is not Anwar’s kampung. His is Cherok Tok Kun near Bukit Mertajam on the other side of Seberang Perai. But it is the only constituency Anwar has ever contested in.
And ironically it was introduced unto him by Umno, shortly after he was plucked from ABIM (Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia), the radical Muslim youth movement, and brought into the party in 1982.
And, on an Umno ticket, he upset PAS strongman Zabidi Ali in the 1982 GE, launching him to political “stardom”.
Zabidi at that time was the Haji Zabidi or Ustaz Zabidi whom everyone knew in the area, so Anwar’s win over him raised a lot of eyebrows.
It also signalled the start of “juggernaut Anwar” because in the four times he contested in Permatang Pauh, he defeated some of the biggest names in PAS. Apart from Zabidi, there was Mohamad Sabu (1986), now PAS deputy president, and deputy Penang PAS commissioner Muzani Abdullah (1990).
