By P Prem Kumar
KUALA LUMPUR
Anwar Ibrahim's wife is set to replace him as Malaysia's opposition leader, according to the People's Justice Party (PKR).
Deputy President Azmin Ali told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday that the other two parties in the opposition pact have unanimously agreed to endorse Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as the next leader.
"We have agreed to nominate her to the position when Parliament meets on Monday. It is a mutual respect that the opposition pact has with Anwar Ibrahim," he said.
The two parties concerned are the Democratic Action Party (DAP), which has 38 seats in parliament's lower house, and the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), which has 21 seats.
Ibrahim's PKR has 28.
Ismail won Ibrahim's stronghold Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency in a by-election last week, called after her husband was sentenced to five years jail for sodomizing his former aide.
The 62-year-old, who is also PKR president, polled 30,316 votes to beat ruling National Alliance's Suhaimi Sabudin by 8,841 - fewer than the 11,721-majority garnered by Ibrahim in the 2013 general election.
She previously held the opposition leader position for one term when Ibrahim - a former deputy prime minister - was sentenced to seven year imprisonment in 1999 on similar charges.
Deputy President Azmin Ali said that all parties concerned were "confident that she [Ismail] would be able to undertake the job well, given her previous experience."
The mutual consensus to name Ismail as opposition leader came as a surprise in many quarters, as the opposition pact has been left in turmoil due to the proposed implementation of Islamic penal code in Kelantan, a state governed by PAS.
PAS had ignored various calls made by DAP and PKR leaders to abort the plan, claiming that the implementation of Hudud was long due.
