It has been quite a while since Anwar Ibrahim has publicly praised his wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, for being the ‘rock’ of PKR. He did so today.

anwar ibrahim pc 080409 Anwar revealed that it was his wife who has held the party together by taking a deep interest in its affairs, updating herself on political developments and showing genuine concern for the welfare of members.

“Although I may be the one formulating policies, Azizah is the one working tirelessly behind the scenes. She has worked harder than me at times,” Anwar told a press conference at PKR headquarters in Petaling Jaya.

The opposition leader was replying to a question as to when he would officially take over as PKR president from his wife, who has often been described as a “reluctant politician”.

Although he did not give a definite answer, his reply indicated that PKR is doing just fine with Azizah as PKR president and himself as the undisputed leader of Pakatan Rakyat.

Anwar said his wife had proven herself as an active campaigner in the just-concluded Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau by-elections.

“She was campaigning throughout the two constituencies. She worked very hard in mobilising support for Pakatan candidates,” he said proudly, adding in jest “and you know, Azizah has certain capabilities which I don’t have”.

He said he was happy with the close cooperation and solidarity shown by Pakatan leaders and supporters in the by-elections.

“This is a good sign for us. We can only progress further after these two victories and the earlier ones in Permatang Pauh and Kuala Terengganu,” he said.

Best team in Batang Ai

Asked whether the ‘everybody wants to be a candidate’ syndrome among Indian and Dayak members in PKR would be a major problem for the party in future, Anwar replied, “When you are a winning party, it’s only natural that many want to contest.”

He said he was confident that this will not become an issue for the party as most leaders and members are mature people.

Anwar clarified that there are tussles for seats among Malay members as well but “happily, we seem to be able to resolve such matters amicably in the end”.

batang ai by election jawah gerang khalid ibrahim campaign 310309 01 On whether he regrets having chosen Jawah Gerang (standing in photo) as the PKR candidate for Batang Ai, Anwar replied “No.”

“Jawah was a formidable candidate. He was very popular in the area. With Nicholas Bawin working together with him, PKR had assembled the best team,” he said.

Before the by-election, it was a toss-up between Jawah and Bawin as both men were keen to be the PKR standard bearer.

At the eleventh hour, Anwar settled for Jawah and this was said to have caused much unhappiness among Bawin’s supporters. However, Bawin put on a brave front and went all out to campaign for his fellow Iban from Lubok Antu.

Commenting on the by-election results in Batang Ai, which the BN won, Anwar expressed concern about “irregularities” in the voting process.

“We take great exception to the decision not to count the votes in 14 polling booths but to take the boxes to the tallying centre for counting. Anything could have happened to the votes on the way,” he explained, saying the PKR has lodged an official protest.

“We hope the Election Commission can give us a full explanation on why they made such a decision.”