IT WILL be an understatement to say that Nurul Izzah Anwar is not disillusioned to be defeated in her family fortress of Permatang Pauh since 1982 – and more so on her 42nd birthday.
At a glance, Nurul Izzah’s defeat – deemed one of the three shocking casualties in Penang aside from Kepala Batas and Tasik Gelugor – has been attributed to her urban mentality disconnect with her constituents.
But some political observers prefer to attribute this the unstoppable emergence of ‘green tide’ which has swiftly swept across the northern states of Perlis, Kedah and mainland Penang (Editor’s note: There are two PAS strongholds in the Permatang Pauh constituency, namely Permatang Pasir and Penanti.)
This “green tide” phenomenon which emanated from the East Coast states of Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang is expected to soon catch up with central states of Perak and Negri Sembilan.
“The only states that can withstand the PAS onslaught are Penang, Selangor and Johor but not for long. I foresee all the three states will fall by the 2032 election,” revealed the observer who wished to remain anonymous. “Nobody can by this tide. Malaysia risks becoming a complete Islamic state by 2032.”
Nurul Izzah who won the Permatang Pauh seat for the first time in the 2018 general election failed to defend her constituency after she lost in a four-cornered fight to PN-PAS’ religious teacher (ustaz) Muhammad Fawwaz Muhammad Jan who won with a 5,272 vote-majority when he polled 37,638 votes against Nurul Izzah’s 33,366 votes.
Apart from Nurul Izzah, also having to bite the dust in GE15 is caretaker housing and local government minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican (UMNO-BN) who lost the Kepala Batas parliamentary seat which was once synonymous with fifth prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Deemed a safe deposit for BN in the last five decades, the two-term Reezal lost to religious teacher (ustazah) Dr Siti Mastura Muhammad (PAS-PN) with a majority of 2,867 votes after having polled 25,737 compared to Siti Mastura’s 28,604 votes.
Elsewhere, UMNO-BN candidate Datuk Muhamad Yusoff Mohd Noor was defeated by Bersatu’s information chief Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan in a five-cornered fight for the Tasek Gelugor parliamentary constituency with a majority of 12,252 votes after having polled 18,864 votes as opposed to Wan Saiful’s31,116 votes.
In fact, Wan Saiful himself has attributed his surprised victory to the “wave of young voters” who “are keen to see changes towards a clean and stable government”. – Nov 23, 2022
