Not nepotism if the rakyat votes for us, Dr Wan Azizah says of husband, daughter as MPs
(MMO) – Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail today dismissed claims of nepotism within Pakatan Harapan (PH), should her husband Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim win the Port Dickson by-election.
When questioned by reporters, Dr Wan Azizah saw it as a non-issue that she and daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar will likely be joined by another immediate family member in Parliament.
“Is there a problem? Because I thought we were voted by the rakyat,” she replied when met after an official visit to OrphanCare here today.
Dr Wan Azizah said Anwar was previously denied his right to sit in Dewan Rakyat when he was jailed for 11 years.
The outgoing PKR president said the timing now is right, despite the backlash received following the announcement of the so-called Port Dickson move.
“It’s a good time and he still wants to contribute He was denied the chance of being in Parliament It was taken away.
“He’s been in jail for 11 years now… What do you mean? And you want to talk about impatience?” she scoffed when questioned by reporters on the public response to Anwar’s decision to contest in Port Dickson now instead of waiting for the next general election.
Following months of speculation over which seat he will contest, former Port Dickson MP Datuk Danyal Balagopal Abdullah yesterday resigned to make way for Anwar.
In 2014, the “Kajang move” saw its assemblyman Lee Chin Cheh resign less than a year after winning the seat in the 13th general election, which was meant to allow Anwar to eventually become Selangor mentri besar.
The plan, however, was thwarted by the Court of Appeal’s decision on March 7, 2014 which saw Anwar sentenced to five years in prison for sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
Dr Wan Azizah stood in instead and defeated Barisan Nasional’s (BN) candidate Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun.
Anwar was disallowed from contesting due to his custodial sentence from 1999 to 2004 for a previous sodomy charge.
He later won the Permatang Pauh seat in 2008 in a by-election.
