Stand down as Permatang Pauh MP, Anwar told
Anwar is being selfish to contest in the Kajang by-election, say local political leader
Athi Shankar, FMT
An ex-independent general election candidate today called on PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim to quit as Permatang Pauh MP if he wished to contest the vacant Kajang state seat to become the Selangor Menteri Besar.
Dr Abdullah Zawawi Samsudin, who contested the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat in last year’s general election, said Anwar should know his priorities.
He said Anwar could not be having one foot in Penang and another in Selangor just because he wanted to grab state powers.
He reminded Anwar to be grateful and fair to Permatang Pauh folks who had backed him since the 1982 general election when he made his electoral debut as a new Umno stalwart.
“It’s unfair for Permatang Pauh constituents if Anwar decided to commit himself to people of Selangor.
“If he wants to be Selangor MB, he should quit as Permatang Pauh MP.
“He cannot claim that he can serve both places equally fair. He got to sacrifice one.
“He cannot take Permatang Pauh people for a ride for his selfish political gains.
“The people of Permatang Pauh has given strong support to Anwar, his wife and PKR for past 32 years.
“It’s time for Anwar to quit and make way for a local and capable PKR leader to take over Permatang Pauh.
“As it is, he hardly serves his constituents here,” insisted Dr Abdullah Zawawi, who got only 201 votes in last year’s election.
DAP must thank Anwar
Nevertheless, a local DAP leader differed in opinion and said that it was not an issue for Anwar to continue as the Permatang Pauh MP and Kajang assemblyman simultaneously.
He said the bigger issue was if Anwar’s decision would cause turbulence in the Selangor PKR and also in the party’s national leadership.
He claimed that Anwar can always serve both constituencies effectively.
“But will his becoming Selangor MB cause a split in the party?
“Will Khalid Ibrahim’s team and Azmin Ali’s team accept this?” asked the prominent DAP leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
On whether the DAP would agree with Anwar’s decision, another prominent DAP local leader said his party would always support the PKR de facto leader.
He said this was because the DAP must repay its gratitude to Anwar for being instrumental in persuading the Malays to support the DAP in the last two general elections.
“If not for Anwar, the Malays would not have been convinced to vote for the DAP.
“DAP has to thank Anwar for helping us to form the state government,” said the party l leader here.
Anwar’s ‘wayang kulit’
A former Gerakan MP, Huan Cheng Guan however, blasted the Kajang seat fiasco as Anwar’s wayang kulit (shadow play) political blunder.
“The whole scenario smacks of manipulation of voters’ choice in the general election to suit a game plan in a last-ditch desperate effort to restore normalcy in turbulent PKR,” said Huan, who heads the Centre for Political Awareness (CPA).
He said PKR could have resolved its internal problems by calling for Khalid’s resignation as Selangor Menteri Besar.
Instead, he said Anwar had forced another assemblyman’s resignation and a by-election that would cause wasteful expenditure of public funds.
He said the forced by-election merely to fulfill Anwar’s selfish political goals was unjustified, untimely and exposed the double standards practised by Anwar, PKR, and Pakatan Rakyat.
“When it suits them, it is okay to have a by-election or to use public funds for their agenda.
“But when it does not gel with their motives; they will go on a targetted missile attack to raise public awareness of what is wrong.
“An ambitious Anwar now wants to make Kajang constituents as his next sacrificial lambs.
“This time, Anwar and his motley crew have blundered big time, for Malaysians are not as ignorant or stupid as they think,” said Huan.
