Terengganu PKR leader Azan Ismail, a member of the central leadership council, said Wan Azizah should not be marginalised.
“Wan Azizah has to be chairman with Anwar as president. She will be able to properly lead the development of women in this new Malaysia,” he told FMT today.
As Wan Azizah holds the ministerial portfolio for women’s affairs and is also deputy prime minister, she should not be treated as an “ordinary person” after the party elections, he said.
Wan Azizah’s presence was of great strategic importance to PKR, he said, pointing to her two decades at the helm of the party while Anwar was out of politics and serving a prison sentence.
PKR’s elections are due to be held next month.
Azan said Terengganu PKR backed Anwar’s decision. “This has been long awaited, especially for the people of Terengganu,” he said. “Terengganu was the earliest state to welcome the Reformasi wave in 1998.”
He said deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali and vice-president Rafizi Ramli were both worthy of taking the party forward with Anwar at the helm.
“Both have their own strengths and advantages, especially Rafizi, who is still young and not yet burdened with high positions in the (administration) of the country,” he said. Azmin is the Minister for Economic Affairs, after having served two terms as menteri besar of Selangor.
Rafizi, a former MP for Pandan, did not contest the general election in May because of a pending appeal against his 30-month jail sentence in a court case regarding the National Feedlot Centre. He has said he was not interested in taking an active role in politics after the general election.