EVEN in the darkest of days, Permatang Pauh stood by their MP, PKR’s Anwar Ibrahim.

 In the 2004 polls, when there was a general swing of support for Barisan Nasional, it was the only seat the opposition party managed to win.

With the de facto PKR leader’s eldest daughter Nurul Izzah contesting the seat, the question is not whether she will win, but by how big a majority.

She is in a three-cornered fight but Ilham Centre executive director Hisommuddin Bakar, who has surveyed the Malay-majority seat with 81,789 voters, said Nurul Izzah possessed enough “star power” to retain Permatang Pauh.

“The worst case scenario for Pakatan Harapan in Permatang Pauh is a reduced majority,” he told Malaysia Decides.

Nurul Izzah is replacing her mother, PH and PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who won the seat by a majority of 8,841 votes in the 2015 by-election.

Dr Wan Azizah is contesting Pandan in Selangor this general election.

In the 2013 polls, Nurul Izzah’s father Anwar won the seat by 11,721 votes. He lost the seat in 2015 when he was convicted and jailed for sodomy. The BN and PAS candidates are Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said and Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden, respectively.

Hisommuddin said Nurul Izzah, the former Lembah Permai MP, was so popular that her PH colleagues in Permatang Pauh’s three state seats of Penanti, Seberang Jaya and Permatang Pasir could sail through on her account.

“There have been some grouses in Penanti and Seberang Jaya about the service of the PH incumbents. But they will likely be okay if they ride the wave,” he said.

Incumbents Dr Norlela Ariffin in Penanti and Dr Afif Bahardin in Seberang Jaya – both from PKR – are defending their seats for a second term. Norlela won by 2,339 votes and Dr Afif, 2,459 votes in 2013. – May 6, 2018.