Kit Siang backs Wan Azizah as Opposition Leader

KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 — DAP Parliamentary Leader Lim Kit Siang openly threw his support for PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail to be the next Opposition Leader today, after the latter won the Permatang Pauh by-election yesterday.

Lim also urged Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties to regain the confidence, hope and trust of voters who chose them in the last general elections, warning that there might be no future for the coalition if they fail to do so.

“Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail’s solid and impressive win in the Permatang Pauh by-election paves the way for her to be re-elected as Parliamentary Opposition Leader,” Lim said in a statement.

The Gelang Patah MP also said that Dr Wan Azizah’s victory signals that the future lies with inclusive politics, and not a sectarian one which is bound to any single race or religion.

“A lot of political pyrotechnics were staged during the Permatang Pauh by-election which attracted media publicity and frenzy, but the results showed that voters are more level-headed and have more common sense to be swayed by such histrionics and media hypes,” added Lim.

PR component parties PKR, PAS and DAP have failed to agree on the next Opposition Leader ever since Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was disqualified as a member of Parliament on March 16, triggering the by-election.

Anwar was jailed five years on February 10 when his appeal to the Federal Court against his second sodomy conviction was dismissed.

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.

Despite that, political analysts told Malay Mail Online today that Dr Wan Azizah could face resistance from PAS in her bid to replace Anwar as Opposition Leader, pointing out that the political dynamic between PAS and its PR allies have shifted.

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