PMTG PAUH A septuagenarian voter from Tanah Liat, Permatang Pauh claimed that Anwar Ibrahim has never visited him or any other senior citizens since he was first elected as their representative in 1982.

“Anwar or his wife (Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail) has never visited me. He rarely go down to the ground and didn’t help common people in the constituency,” Zulkifli Hamid, 79, told Bernama  today.

He said that PKR just wanted the people’s votes and never took care of their welfare.

“I’ve never missed voting... I will vote for BN (Barisan Nasional) because the party has helped us a lot,” said Zulkifli, who is one of the oldest voters in the parliamentary constituency.

Siti Nuraina Mohd Aman, 31, who resides in Permatang Pasir, one of three state constituencies in Permatang Pauh, said the parliamentary constituency should be more developed than other nearby constituencies.

Siti Nuraina, who is working at a factory in Perai, said Tasek Gelugor and Kepala Batas parliamentary constituencies were increasingly developing under BN representatives with many job opportunities offered to the locals.

Khairul Anas Ismail, 47, said as a voter in Permatang Pauh, he was disappointed with the elected representative for not bringing development to the area.

“For young people like me, we want young people to represent us and to help us especially relating to job opportunities,” he said.

The Permatang Pauh parliamentary by-election was called after incumbent Anwar was disqualified as elected representative when a petition of royal pardon against his imprisonment filed by his family was rejected by the Pardons Board.

Anwar is currently serving a five-year imprisonment at the Sungai Buloh Prison in Selangor for sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.   

In the by-election, Wan Azizah will be challenged by BN candidate Suhaimi Sabudin, Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s Azman Shah Othman and Independent candidate Salleh Ishak. Polling is on May 7.

- Bernama