PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim has announced lawyer Gooi Hsiao Leung as the candidate for the Alor Setar parliamentary seat.

NONE The opposition leader revealed this tonight at a dinner in Taman Berjaya to a 3,000 strong crowd.

"We hope the people of Alor Setar will give our candidate their support for this coming general election.

“What is most important is that we need leaders who are clean and not corruptible," he added, to loud cheers from the crowd.

Gooi, a practising lawyer in Penang, contested against MCA vice-president and senior politician Chor Chee Heung, 58, in 2008 and lost by a narrow 184 vote margin.

NONE The 40-year-old is the son of lawyer and former DAP stalwart Gooi Hock Seng, who has since joined PKR.

"I am happy and honoured that my party has chosen to field me in Alor Setar again.

“Although I was disappointed (by my defeat) in 2008, I have never been discouraged," said Gooi ( left ), when contacted.

"This is a responsible task and I hope I can win to make up the 125 out of 222 parliamentarians needed by Pakatan Rakyat to seize Putrajaya in the coming polls," he told Malaysiakini .

Kuala Kedah candidate also named

Meanwhile according to Bernama , Anwar at another function in Kuala Kedah also announced that Kuala Kedah division chief Azman Ismail will be contesting the Kuala Kedah parliamentary seat.

azlan In Alor Setar, Kedah Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak told Bernama he would wait for the dissolution of the Dewan Rakyat and the State Legislative Assembly before announcing the list of his party's candidates.     

Azizan, who is also the Kedah PAS commissioner, said an early announcement of the candidates representing the party in the 13th general election for Kedah would remove any element of surprise in the selection of candidates.     

"Why do we have to rush. Announcing the candidates just before the election would create a surprise and the people like surprises," he told reporters after presenting the instrument of appointment to members of the Kedah State Pardons Board 2013 at Wisma Darul Aman.     

Azizan said the names of the PAS candidates had yet to be finalised by the PAS headquarters.