Winning Permatang Pauh no guarantee for Wan Azizah to lead Pakatan, analysts say

Zurairi AR and Boo Su-Lyn, Malay Mail Online

Despite winning the Permatang Pauh by-election, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah could face resistance from PAS in her bid to replace Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the Opposition Leader, political analysts said today.

Although the PKR president had once carried the post, analysts pointed out that the political dynamic between PAS and its Pakatan Rakyat (PR) allies have shifted, especially following her snub for the Selangor mentri besar post last year.

“Whether or not she becomes opposition leader, that’s a completely different battle from last night. Last night just allows her to be in Parliament,” said Ibrahim Suffian of independent pollster Merdeka Centre, referring to the by-election result.

“The situation with PAS has not been resolved even with last night’s victory. Whether she will be opposition leader will still be up in the air and the subject of discussions.”

“The dynamic has changed now, especially between PKR and PAS, I’m not surprised if PAS puts up a challenge and propose other names apart from Dr Wan Azizah,” said Dr Faizal Hazis, a professor at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak’s Department of Politics and International Relations.

Ibrahim also suggested the possibility that the post could only be decided after PAS’ party elections due next month, although the next Parliament sitting will start on May 18.

“A lot of things certain in past are now thrown wayside partly because of the current situation with the senior PAS leadership. They’re somewhat unpredictable these days, so things are not as smooth,” Ibrahim claimed.

Friction between PR component parties was apparent during the Permatang Pauh by-election, with the Penang PAS Youth previously threatening to boycott it after PKR Youth had allegedly insulted PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.

Even before the by-election, DAP had severed ties with Abdul Hadi for his party’s push for the controversial Islamic penal code of hudud, accusing him of colluding with Umno on the matter.

Dr Wan Azizah had won Permatang Pauh before in 1999 until 2008, and was briefly elected as Opposition Leader before she relinquished the seat in July 2008 for Anwar to contest it. Anwar eventually won and became the Opposition Leader.

She was also mooted as the next Selangor mentri besar last year to replace Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, but PAS had unilaterally nominated another candidate, as Hadi claimed that his endorsement would drag the rest of his party members to hell in the afterlife.

Dr Shamsul Adabi Mamat, a professor at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, suggested that Dr Wan Azizah will only be burdened as she already has her hands full as a Selangor state assemblyman, and suggested for DAP’s parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang to return to the post he had taken many times in the past.

“Actually, PKR needs an opposition leader that is fresher, and more involved in the Parliament, compared to somebody who can unite the component parties.

“Having a fresh face will make PR seem like they care more about serving the public,” said the political science lecturer, suggesting either Lembah Pantai MP and Anwar’s daughter Nurul Izzah, or DAP Parliamentary Leader Lim Kit Siang.

“The issue of the appointment of opposition leader is another issue that they need to address, and PAS needs to sit down with rest of component parties and move forward as a cohesive coalition,” said Faizal.

“Let’s say PAS wants to propose a name, or nominate its leader. Hadi in the last one year or so has been a very divisive force within PR … He has not been a unifying force within PR for the last one to two years.”

Dr Wan Azizah won the Permatang Pauh by-election last night with an 8,841-vote majority, with PKR securing 30,316 votes to Barisan Nasional’s 21,475.

The 62-year-old PKR president was only around 3,000 votes shy of husband Anwar’s 11,721-vote majority from Election 2013 despite the lower voter turnout of 74 per cent.