Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar has rubbished speculation that she will contest in the upcoming Seri Setia by-election and vacate her parliamentary seat.
"First I’m hearing about it - and fake news at that," Nurul Izzah said in a brief WhatsApp message to Malaysiakini.
The speculation about Nurul Izzah contesting in Seri Setia revolved around plans for her father, PKR president-elect Anwar Ibrahim, to engineer a by-election to enable him to return to Parliament.
Nurul Izzah, however, has said she would not relinquish her Permatang Pauh seat to Anwar.
Anwar himself pooh-poohed speculation regarding the Seri Setia move.
“I have not heard of it. Why would Izzah go to state (level)?
“No one suggested it. If they had, then I would consider it,” he was quoted as saying by Malay Mail.
Meanwhile, The Star cited sources as saying that certain factions lobbying for Nurul Izzah to contest in Seri Setia were leaking the information to the press in order to please Anwar.
One source likened this to the 2014 Kajang move.
The Kajang move was a by-election engineered by Rafizi Ramli, which was meant to install Anwar as Selangor menteri besar.
An overturned acquittal in Anwar's Sodomy II trial and tensions with the Selangor palace eventually saw Azmin Ali assuming the position instead.
Rafizi is challenging Azmin for the PKR deputy president post.
Two MPs aligned with Rafizi, Selayang's William Leong and Sungai Petani's Johari Abdul, have already offered to vacate their seats for Anwar.
The Seri Setia by-election will be held on Sept 8, with nominations to be filed on Aug 18. -Mkini
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