By IANS
Kuala Lumpur : Malaysia’s controversial former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim says he has been cheated of his right to contest the March 8 polls and is determined to make a political comeback via a by-election.
Ibrahim, advisor of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), is serving a ban on holding political office due to his jail sentence after he was convicted on corruption charges.
The ban ends April 14. The March 8 election was scheduled only to deny him the opportunity to contest, he has said.
His wife and PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail was recently reported as saying that she would gladly vacate her Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat if she wins again for the third time, The New Straits Times said Thursday.
PKR is contesting 66 parliamentary seats and over 120 in the state legislatures.
Ibrahim fell foul of then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and was sacked in 1999. He was jailed after being accused of corruption and sodomy.