PERMATANG PAUH, April 11 — The Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency is not a ‘private limited company’, but a constituency in need of a member of Parliament who are able to bring development and progress to the people, Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said.

She said the feedback collected by Wanita Umno at the grassroot revealed that voters in Permatang Pauh longed for development and were fed up with the opposition’s unkept promises.

“Although Permatang Pauh is deemed the opposition’s stronghold in Penang, anything can just happen in politics...especially with the voters’ rising thirst for development.”

“They want to see development to be brought to Permatang Pauh as soon as possible. If that’s what they want, maybe we (Barisan Nasional (BN)) have a chance, but it’s all up to them. Our job is to prepare the machinery and go to the ground.”

She said this to reporters after holding a meeting with Penang Barisan Nasional (BN) chief and Umno Liaison Body chairman Datuk Seri Zainal Abidin Osman, which lasted three hours, here today.

Shahrizat said the feedback also revealed that voters in Permatang Pauh were sick and tired with the ‘Pi Mai Pi Mai Tang Tu’ (unchanged) political scenario in the constituency, which involved different candidates but from the same family, even after 17 years.

She said Wanita Umno machinery was all geared up to face the Permatang Pauh by-election and would be launched immediately after the nomination day on April 25.

“Our approach is to speak the truth and to bring the feedback from the grass root to the attention of the government, so that improvement can be done,” she said.

She said Wanita Umno would also strive hard to convince the voters that it was high time for them to have a member of Parliament from BN and to stop listening to the empty talk and promises of the opposition.

The parliamentary by-election for Permatang Pauh is set on May 7.

The seat was declared vacant after its incumbent, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, was disqualified as a Member of Parliament since March 16 after the Pardons Board rejected a petition for a royal pardon sought by the Opposition Leader’s family over his conviction for sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan. — Bernama