PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has been described before as a reluctant politician, who was thrust into politics due to circumstances rather than choice.

In retelling the story today, Wan Azizah, wife to Pakatan Harapan de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, could not hold back her emotions and tears.

“I remember in 1999, that was the first time I joined the elections as a candidate.

“I am the wife of a politician. I am not a politician. But what happened, the tragedy that happened to our family gave us all the potential to be together in this fight,” she said in her keynote address at a forum titled ‘Three-cornered fights: A win for Pakatan Harapan’ in Kuala Lumpur today.

Her voice was filled with emotion and her eyes with tears as she continued her story, adding that she feels the need to stay with everyone who continues to fight along their side.

These people might have differences in opinion, but they all share a common goal of wanting a better Malaysia, she said.

“This is what makes me continue on in this fight, even though there is not much satisfaction...” she said, stopping her speech briefly to recollect herself.

Someone then passed her a tissue to wipe her eyes.

'I have to have the strength to carry on'

“Just a thought crossed my mind and I just remembered a lot of things that happened in my life, and certain things I cannot carry and certain things I can carry, but I have to have the strength to carry on.

“I am sorry I get emotional, this happens sometimes,” Wan Azizah said.

She went on to say that as a mother, she wants to build a better future for the children in the country.

Wan Azizah held the Permatang Pauh MP post from 1998 to 2008 in place of Anwar, a former deputy prime minister who was sacked from his post and jailed for abuse of power related to a sodomy conviction in 1998.

The former ophthalmologist replaced her husband in Permatang Pauh again in 2015, when he was jailed for five years for a second sodomy conviction, which he insists is politically motivated to end his career. He is expected to be released in June 2018.

Earlier in her speech, Wan Azizah stressed that Pakatan Harapan has to accept the inevitability of multi-cornered fights in the next general election.

She also cautioned against taking their former ally, PAS, lightly as they have been on the political scene for a long time.

Pakatan Harapan must also work very hard to regain the confidence of the voters, she said, as it might have been discouraged due to the dissolution of the previous coalition, Pakatan Rakyat.

“We must overcome this problem on how to regain the confidence of the voters,” Wan Azizah added.

Pakatan Rakyat dissolved in 2015 after Amanah split from PAS and the break-up in ties between PAS and DAP.