BUKIT MERTAJAM, April 22 – The action by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim of focusing on Sabah and Sarawak throughout the 13th general election (GE13) campaign, proves that he does not value the Permatang Pauh constituents’ support for him all this while.
The Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the parliamentary seat, Dr Mazlan Ismail who said this, also described Anwar’s action as unfair to the voters who had chosen him to represent them.
“Anwar Ibrahim is not here since yesterday. If we noticed, for 10 years (PKR president) Datin Seri Wan Azizah did not pay attention to the people of Permatang Pauh. Anwar was like that too when he held the seat for five years. He should not do that as 71,000 voters here voted for him.
“This kind of attitude in unfair to the voters. He (Anwar) cannot commit to campaigning here even for 14 days, focusing instead on other areas. It shows he’s not concerned about the people of Permatang Pauh who have supported him,” Mazlan said after visiting the Kampung Tanah Liat district polling centre, Penanti, near here, today.
He was commenting on Anwar’s stand of not campaigning in Permatang Pauh in the GE13 in order to focus on the opposition’s campaign at the national level, especially in Sabah and Sarawak. Mazlan said the incumbent’s attitude showed that he was very confident of retaining the seat, his stronghold since 1982.
He said Anwar’s action would also give some advantage to all the BN candidates contesting in the area in becoming closer to the residents as all of them were local-born.
“We will continue to serve the people here. Only the kampung folk will understand the demands and needs of the residents here.
“With our tagline, ‘BN New Hope for Permatang Pauh’ and ‘Vote Our Village Fellow,” I am confident BN will win in this general election,” he said.
Mazlan, who is former Penang PAS deputy commissioner, said the BN election machinery was all ready to ‘bombard’ Anwar’s stronghold with various programmes. He began his first day of campaigning by visiting seven out of the 10 district polling centres in the Penanti state constituency before visiting a shop at the disabled centre in Kampung Pertama, near here.
BERNAMA
