Three parliamentary constituencies shortlisted for Anwar to make political comeback

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BUTTERWORTH: At least three parliamentary constituencies have been shortlisted for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to contest in to enable his return to Parliament, but the leader remains coy as to which states they might be in.

"It has not been finalised, so it is not proper for me to give any hint.

"I have the willingness of the current MPs to make way, but it depends on whether I can be comfortable with the area, whether the voters there will be comfortable with having Anwar, and then there are my colleagues in Pakatan Harapan.

"But to be fair, I think if I indicate where I will contest, I think most of my colleagues will allow, so it's not a problem at all.

"It might even be Pekan, if it is vacant," he added in jest, referring to ex-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's parliamentary seat.

Anwar was speaking to reporters after officiating the Penang PKR annual general meeting on Sunday (Sept 2) here.

In his speech to almost 1,000 PKR members, however, the incoming PKR president told them that he had heard whispers in political circles that he was contesting because he was "impatient".

Calling for such allegations to stop, Anwar stressed that his focus would be as a parliamentarian, where he wants to play a role in improving the quality of debates and conduct in the Dewan Rakyat.

"I have told Tun (Dr Mahathir Mohamad) that I don't want any positions in the government," he said.

It was previously reported that several PKR reps had offered to give up their seats to allow Anwar to stand in a by-election to pave the way for his return as a parliamentarian.- Star