The crowd would have been gasping in surprise tonight if it was not PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail who was announced as Pakatan Rakyat’s candidate for the Permatang Pauh by-election.

But as expected, it will be none other than the wife of PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim who will be running for the seat, this being a record third time for the soft-spoken woman.

PKR deputy president Azmin Ali made the announcement at an event held at the Seberang Perai Arena, Seberang Jaya tonight.

“Man and wife is one flesh, although Anwar is imprisoned, his spirit is here in Permatang Pauh.

“As such, on behalf of Pakatan Rakyat and PKR, I announce that the candidate, insyaAllah is Dr Wan Azizah,” he said, to loud applause.

The Election Commission (EC) had announced the date of the Permatang Pauh by-election, which will be on May 7, after Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia confirmed that Anwar was no longer the Permatang Pauh MP, and as such, the seat was vacant.

Anwar is currently serving a five-year sentence for sodomy.

Wan Azizah was MP for Permatang Pauh when she won the seat in 1999 and 2008. But she stood down some months later to make way for Anwar in the by-election that followed.

The event tonight attracted about 1,000 people, most of whom were Pakatan Rakyat supporters, as well as Permatang Pauh voters. All seats were filled up, with many even standing in front of the hall to listen to the speeches given by various Pakatan leaders.

'Pakatan wanted a proven leader'

Meanwhile, Azmin in his speech earlier had explained that Pakatan wanted a leader who had proven that she or he could withstand various tests to continue the struggle.

“Yes, Umno can nominate a young leader. He may be young in terms of age, but what about his principles?

“Does it matter if a leader is young but submits to corruption? We want a leader who will be speaking against the goods and services tax (GST) in Parliament.

“Is the Umno representative brave enough to fight against the GST?” he asked.

Barisan Nasional’s candidate is 44-year-old Suhaimi Sabudin, who is Permatang Pauh Umno division secretary.

When Wan Azizah, 63, took to the stage after her announcement made by Azmin, the PKR leader said she had complained to Anwar, saying that some quarters had claimed that they were 'main-main' (fooling around).

“I met Anwar after Friday prayers today. I told him, ‘Abang, people say we main-main'’.

“He replied asking whether he is fooling around when he is in prison?” she said.

As for the upcoming by-election, Wan Azizah pleaded to the audience for support in terms of votes.

“Please vote for us. Maybe some may say I’m trying to obtain sympathy.

“Well, don’t we want to fight against injustice,” she asked, adding that she needed the support, prayers, as well as sweat and tears of her supporters.