SUNDAY-9TH MARCH 2008-NURUL SILENT ON VACATING SEAT FOR ANWAR

Nurul silent on vacating seat for Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR:
Nurul Izzah Anwar, who won the Lembah Pantai parliamentary seat, has side-stepped questions as to whether she will vacate her seat to make way for her father and PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, to take over the seat. “This result is my win and I think you should allow me to celebrate this win and plan for the future with my supporters,” she told reporters after the official announcement of her victory at 2.20 am at the Bangsar Sports Complex here. Her mother, Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, had said that she would make way for her husband if she won. Nurul Izzah, 27, beat Women and Family Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil, the incumbent for three terms, polling 21,728 votes against the latter’s 18,833 for a majority of 2,895 votes. A third candidate, N. Periasamy, an independent, polled 49 votes. Some 7,000 supporters had converegd at the complex since 7.30 pm on Saturday for the counting of the votes. Shahrizat, gracious in defeat, congratulated Nurul Izzah, saying she hoped the latter would continue to look after the people of Lembah Pantai. - Benama