Anwar says has nothing against Ahmad Faizal, hopes battle for Tambun won't turn personal

IPOH, Oct 27 — Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today said that his decision to contest against incumbent Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu for the Tambun parliamentary seat is not personal.

The PKR president reiterated that his choice to contest in Perak is to win back the state and Putrajaya.

"Ahmad Faizal’s father Datuk Azumu Tak and his father-in-law Mohammed Radzi Manan are my close friends. They helped me a lot back in the day.

"There is no personal feud between us and I hope this will not turn into a personal clash,” he told a press conference at the Manjoi assemblyman’s service centre here.

Anwar also revealed that he had declined several seats offered to him in Selangor.

"Of course, this is not an easy seat as Permatang Pauh or other areas. But it is only right for me if I contest here as we want to change the government,” he said.

Separately, when asked which seats the two candidates Datuk Zainal Azman Abu Seman and Nik Omar Nik Aziz will contest in Perak, Anwar said the party will announce the matter tomorrow night.

Yesterday, Anwar announced that Zainal Azman, who served as Perak state secretary and secretary-general of the Agriculture Ministry and Nik Omar, who contested the Chempaka state seat in Kelantan in 2018 on a Parti Amanah Negara ticket, as two of seven key high-profile party members that will also serve as candidates for GE15.

"There is no issue of bringing an outsider to contest in Perak. We have people of Perak contesting in other states also. We are focusing on winnable strategies,” he said.

"Also the reason why we are nominating former public servants, non-governmental organisation members and activists as candidates is that the coalition is not merely a political party but is actually a ‘people’s movement’,” he said.

Anwar also said the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat will remain status quo for the upcoming election.

"So far, no issue has been raised about the seat. It will remain as a PKR seat for now.

"But negotiations with PH’s electoral pact on seats have yet to reach me. I have delegated negotiations to the relevant people,” he said.

The Sungai Siput seat is currently held by S. Kesavan from PKR.

It is understood that the Socialist Party of Malaysia is negotiating for the seat as prior to the GE14, it was held by its chairman Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj.