PERMATANG PAUH, 8 May: The victory obtained by the PKR President, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, in the Permatang Pauh by-election proves that the people reject the leadership of Barisan Nasional (BN).
“Reform, long live the people, reject GST…die Umno,” the PKR Deputy President, Mohamed Azmin Ali, chanted as he started his speech at Kubang Semang yesterday.
He said that the results in Permatang Pauh was similar to what the people have voiced in Rompin when BN, particularly Umno, was rejected.
He said that the decline in support is a sign that BN’s life expectancy in Putrajaya is approaching the end of the road.
“If this is the people’s uprising shown in Rompin and Permatang Pauh, we will continue the struggle to free Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim from prison.
“Free not because of his wife and children, but free Anwar so that Malaysians can be free from the tyranny of Umno and BN,” said the Chief Minister of Selangor.
Yesterday, Wan Azizah was elected as the Permatang Pauh Member of Parliament when she received 30,316 votes, defeating the BN candidate, Suhaimi Sabudin (21,475), Azman Shah Othman (Parti Rakyat Malaysia) (101), and Salleh Ishak (independent) (367) by a majority of 8,841 votes.
On May 5, the Rompin by-election witnessed a sharp decline in BN’s majority by 41 percent when its candidate, Datuk Hasan Arifin, received 23,796 votes defeating Nazri Ahmad (PAS) (14,901) by a majority of 8,895.
Among the key issues that are believed to have affected the results in the by-election is the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) on April 1, which burdens the people.
NS
