Field Mat Sabu not family, blogger tells Azizah
At pasar malam, pro-Pakatan man says youth are fed up of dynastic trend in politics
(Free Malaysia Today) – PKR President Wan Azizah Wan Ismail was given a blunt reminder against dynastic rule last night when a voter here urged her not to field a family member again as a party candidate in elections.
Rosly Yusof, 43, who said he is a pro-Pakatan Rakyat blogger, met Wan Azizah at a pasar malam here on her first day of campaigning in the by-election for the Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency.
She was formerly the MP for Permatang Pauh before resigning to make way for her husband, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. The seat has been declared vacant with his imprisonment on a sodomy charge, and a by-election is to be held.
Rosly submitted a personal “open letter” to Wan Azizah, who is now the Selangor assembly member for Kajang. He asked her not to choose a family member as PKR’s candidate for Permatang Pauh.
Later, he suggested to reporters that PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu could be chosen as the Pakatan Rakyat candidate. Mat Sabu was narrowly defeated by the Barisan Nasional candidate in the 2013 general election in Penang, Kedah. He had previously been an MP for three terms in other constituencies.
Rosly, who said he is not a member of any political party, said in his letter that he and other youths were against dynastic rule as it would monopolise power within family members.
“The youth today want changes. They want to get rid of dynastic system. They feel it was as if there was no one calibre in the party except Anwar Ibrahim’s family members,” he said.
He told reporters later: “I am not a PAS supporter but Pakatan can even field Mat Sabu.” As a seasoned and experienced politician, Mat Sabu could bring together the warring factions within Pakatan to face their common enemy Umno and Barisan Nasional.
Last week PKR Permatang Pauh youth proposed Wan Azizah as the candidate, and a PKR source hinted that the Pakatan would probably choose Wan Azizah as a unifying factor to consolidate the coalition in its internal strife.
Wan Azizah was familiar to constituents having served as MP from 1999 until 2008.
Rosly said it would be a major loss to the people and Pakatan if any Anwar family member, such as Wan Azizah or his daughter Nurul Nuha, was chosen as the Permatang Pauh candidate and possible become opposition leader in Parliament later.
