Anwar’s seat decided, but it’s not Pandan, or in Penang or Kedah

KUALA LUMPUR — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has already chosen which seat he plans to take over to return to Parliament, with less than 48 hours to go before the official announcement on Wednesday (Sept 12).

A select few Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) leaders are in the know with regards to the seat which has been chosen, but this has not stopped other PKR members from speculating.

Malay Mail understands that a single seat has already been confirmed, and that Mr Anwar has agreed on it and given specific instructions for the announcement on Wednesday, to be made by PKR secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

It is understood that Mr Anwar will not be present for the announcement, but the MP who will be vacating his or her seat will most likely be attending the press conference.

When contacted, Mr Saifuddin refuted reports that it would be either the Sungai Petani or Alor Setar parliamentary seat.

"No, it is not any seat in Penang, it is not any seat in Kedah.

"No, it is also not Pandan," he told Malay Mail when contacted, referring to the parliamentary seat currently held by deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is also Anwar's wife.

The Star Online carried a report saying that Mr Anwar had three seats to choose from -- Sungai Petani, Port Dickson and Alor Setar.

While Mr Saifuddin denied it would be either Sungai Petani or Alor Setar, he declined to comment on the possibility of Port Dickson as the chosen seat.

"You will have to wait for the announcement, the seat we have has been based on proper study and research, as to the winnability and other factor," he added.

Another PKR source told Malay Mail that there are rumours that Port Dickson may be chosen as a seat.

But its MP, Datuk Danyal Balagopal Abdullah, has said no one has approached him yet over the issue of vacating his seat. He won the Negri Sembilan federal seat with a majority of over 17,000 votes, defeating MIC information chief Datuk VS Mogan and PAS candidate Mahfuz Roslan.

Last Friday, PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli reportedly revealed that a seat held by a PKR MP will be declared vacant this week to enable Mr Anwar to contest in a by-election and return to Parliament.

On September 1, Mr Anwar confirmed that a few MPs had previously offered to vacate their seats for him, but are now holding back.

The Pakatan Harapan leadership council collectively agreed that Anwar will be succeeding Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the prime minister, but said he must first win an election.

Mr Anwar has repeatedly said that he does not intend to put pressure on Dr Mahathir to name him as part of his government even if he were to become an MP.  MALAY MAIL