Nibong Tebal wants Anwar as MP

GEORGE TOWN: Ninety per cent of voters in Nibong Tebal want incoming PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to contest in the constituency.

Former Nibong Tebal DAP division chief Teoh Seang Hooi said the parliamentary constituency is ideal for Anwar’s return to Parliament.

“We conducted a survey recently that revealed more than 90% of the voters in this seat welcomes Anwar to contest here,” he said yesterday.

The f ormer Seberang Perai Municipal Council councillor said DAP members in the constituency have also expressed their support for Anwar to contest there.

State PKR liaison chairman Datuk Mansor Othman, who is Nibong Tebal MP, declined comment when asked if he is willing to vacate his seat, saying only that Anwar’s heart i s with Penang.

Mansor, a former political secretary to Anwar, has been with PKR since its inception in 1998. He was surprisingly left out when the party nominated its leaders to the Cabinet and other positions following Pakatan Harapan’s victory in the 14th general election.

Meanwhile, Kebun B u n g a assemblyman Jason Ong said in a statement Penang would “welcome another prime minister from the state”.

The country’s fifth prime minister was Penang-born Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who held the Kepala Batas parliamentary seat for eight terms.

The other PKR seats are in Bayan Baru, where its incumbent Sim Tze Tzin is the deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry minister, and Balik Pulau, where the incumbent Muhammed Bakhtiar Wan Chik is the deputy Culture, Arts and Tourism minister.