You can’t please everyone, says Nurul Izzah

 Nurul Izzah Anwar brushes off criticism over her GE15 defeat, PKR deputy president election, and leave of absence from the position.

Former Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar was elected PKR deputy president during the party’s elections last May.

HANG TUAH JAYA:

PKR deputy president Nurul Izzah Anwar, who is set to take a leave of absence from the post, today brushed off the criticism levelled against her since her defeat in the 2022 general election (GE15).

Nurul Izzah said some found her defeat in the family seat of Permatang Pauh unacceptable, while her election as PKR deputy president last year also drew the ire of certain quarters.

“For some people, it was unacceptable that I was not elected in GE15. And for some people, it was unacceptable that I won (the PKR deputy presidency) in 2025. 

“And for others, it was just unacceptable that I am relinquishing (the deputy president’s post) in 2026. You cannot please everyone,” she said when officiating the PKR Youth congress at the Melaka International Trade Centre here.

Nurul Izzah, a former three-term MP, lost the Permatang Pauh seat in GE15 to PAS’s Fawwaz Jan, who won with a majority of 5,272 votes.

Permatang Pauh had been considered the family seat of PKR president Anwar Ibrahim. It had been held by him, his wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and daughter Nurul Izzah since 1982.

Nurul Izzah secured the PKR deputy presidency last May, taking over from Rafizi Ramli who later resigned as economy minister and Pandan MP as well as from PKR as a whole. He subsequently launched Bersama with former PKR vice-president Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.

Last week, PKR announced that Nurul Izzah would be taking a temporary leave of absence from her duties as party deputy president after the party’s congress this weekend.

She later said she decided to relinquish her position as PKR deputy president to further her studies. - FMT