Responding to a statement by Wanita Umno chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Nurul Izzah said she has every intention of defending the seat she has held for nine years.

The PKR vice-president also welcomed Shahrizat to contest the seat again.

“I am Lembah Pantai MP and will defend the constituency unless the PKR leadership says otherwise.

“I welcome Shahrizat to try and take the seat away from me by contesting in Lembah Pantai. It would be like a meeting of ‘old flames’,” Nurul Izzah told FMT, referring to how the two women went head-to-head in the 12th general election in 2008.

Nurul Izzah was asked to comment on Shahrizat reportedly saying that she was afraid of defending her seat, which she retained in the 2013 polls, in the next general election.

Nurul Izzah instead questioned the need to transfer almost 7,000 postal voters from the Bukit Aman police headquarters into Lembah Pantai, if Umno was really confident of wresting the seat away.

Shahrizat was a three-term Lembah Pantai MP before her shocking loss to Nurul Izzah in the 2008 general election.

In 2013, Nurul Izzah successfully defended her seat against former Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin, winning by 1,847 votes.