Permatang Pauh folk are in two minds about their member of Parliament contesting the Kajang by-election, although those who claim to be politically aware say they understand that his move is to expand the ‘reformasi’ agenda.

‘Reformasi’ has been Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim's battle cry since he was sacked from his deputy prime minister's post in 1998; and despite touring the country instead of spending more time in Permatang Pauh, voters have been steadfastl delivering  him a steady win at every poll, making him the five-term MP of the parliamentary constituency.

Ishak Ismail, a retired teacher, said that contesting Kajang is Anwar's right as he may be planning to expand the party's call to reform the country.

Anwar’s decision - and the possibility of him spending less time in Permatang Pauh if he wins the polls slated for March 23 - has not much effect here, Ishak claimed.

"That is because the three assemblypersons under Permatang Pauh are from Pakatan Rakyat and they see to the daily running of the constituency.

“Moreover, there are village security and development committee (JKKK) members who are in touch with the grassroots," said Ishak ( left ), 57.

"After all, we voted him as our MP not because we want him to sit in Permatang Pauh. We voted him in so he can bring our issues to the national level in Parliament," he added.

"Those who criticise his move do not understand the role of a MP," said the Permatang Pauh JKKK committee representative.

Even during his tenure as DPM, Anwar visited his constituency - attending dinner parties, weddings or funerals, and meeting with the rural folk - albeit not as frequently as they would have liked.

The most recent was a durian party in Sungai Lembu where he met a group of villagers from a small Chinese kampung, and his tour to Penanti and Kedah to explain the Kajang move.

His detractors in Umno claim that voters were disappointed with Anwar's latest venture with the nomination date  fixed for March 11.

Rare visits to the constituency

    

Businessperson Mohd Zaidi Adnan said that when Anwar was previously the DPM and finance minister while he was their MP, Umno had never made any noise about him holding too many posts or not visiting the constituency often.

"Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is also the Pekan MP, I am sure he does not return so often to his constituency, so what is the problem?" Mohd Zaidi ( left ), 44, asked.

"If his critics say Anwar did not bring development to Permatang Pauh under Pakatan Rakyat, it was also the same during BN's rule, this place has remained as it is," added the part-time contractor with two kids.

The Kajang seat fell vacant when it's former MP Lee Chin Cheh quit the post, citing party interests as the reason for his surprise move.

Anwar and PKR have since been making the rounds, explaining to the people that the PKR de facto leader's decision was to bring improvement to the Selangor government, especially in confronting Umno and BN's racial and religious type politics.

However, such reasoning had not been swallowed blindly by all, including his die-hard voters in Permatang Pauh.

When met at the Sama Gagah market, shop owner Teh Joo Tatt said he has no problem with Anwar's fight in Kajang, but stressed that he must give his constituents a good reason for doing so.

"He has to give a better reason for doing so than what we read in the newspaper. As of now, his explanation is not acceptable," said Teh, 38, a father of two.

Teh is, however, resigned to the fact that he can do nothing to stop Anwar from his latest decision.

"If he still wants to contest Kajang, what can we say? After all, he still comes back to visit our area, we see him at events and ceramah," said Teh, who sells uniforms for school children.

The possibility of Anwar replacing current and popular Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, while trying to address internal party feuds involving PKR's deputy president Azmin Ali, has angered some quarters.

Even NGOs which have supported his move to fight electoral fraud - such as Bersih - have questioned the move, saying it was a wastage of funds and a step back for democracy.

‘Make way for younger candidates’

And some voters, like Mohd Ali Khalid, were not so forgiving, even suggesting that Anwar give way for younger candidates, as the opposition leader continues to campaign intensely in Kajang since announcing his candidacy at the end of last month.

"It is better for Anwar to retire at this age and stay quietly at home. He is almost the same age as me, how long can he serve for  the people? Five years?" asked Ali, 68.

"There is a difference between being an MP and an MB, you need to travel here and there. What if he is not healthy and cannot serve us full term? Do we need to have another by-election then and replace him? This will cause more problems," said the self-employed voter.

"He should give others - especially the younger generation - a chance to contest, and perhaps like former premier Dr Mahathir Mohammad, he can be an adviser to Pakatan," he added.

Ali said it was not like he disliked Anwar, but that one is bound to attract critics and enemies, especially with this latest move and persistence in politics.

"The longer he is involved, the more people will be angry with him. Besides, we can't see any changes in Permatang Pauh since his wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, won the seat in 1999 and 2004," he lamented.

Wan Azizah quit her second term mid-way in 2008 to pave the way for Anwar to return to politics after spending six years’ in jail for abuse of power involving his sodomy charges, which he maintains had been politically engineered to bring his downfall.

Meanwhile, hawker Chik Long complained that she only sees Anwar during election time, and opined that he should not contest in Kajang.

"We don't want to quarrel. We just want to make a living, but the opposition only seems to want to make trouble all the while," said the 62-year-old.

"If you are a real leader, you should take care of all people, but Anwar seems as if he is merely thinking of himself.

"It is sad that the people up there are always thinking of themselves, but when the people want to meet them for help, we can't find them around," she added.

On another note, retiree Daim Hassim, 64, said Anwar's latest move was not fair to voters, nor to the younger party leaders.

'Time for Anwar to quit'

"It is time for him to quit as he has held minister-level posts before. Maybe some people like him still, but others do not, and only the polling results can reflect the real situation and sentiments here," he noted.

In the May 5 general election, Anwar had won the seat with 37,090 votes against Umno candidate Dr Mazlan Ismail's ( left ) 25,369, although he suffered some losses, wherein his majority was trimmed from 15,671 in 2008 to 11,721.

Kajang has 39,278 registered voters, including 1,197 advance voters and 26 overseas voters.

It is a mixed constituency which has gone through massive development in the previous years, as it is close to the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) located in Bangi, Selangor.

It has 48.5 percent Malays (19,050 voters), 40.28 percent Chinese (15,823 voters), 10.29 percent Indians (4,040 voters), 0.52 percent others (203 voters), 0.2 percent Sabah bumiputera (78 voters), 0.19 percent Sarawak bumiputera (74 voters) and 0.03 percent Orang Asli (10 voters).