Nurul Izzah Anwar

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This is a Malay name; the name "Anwar" is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by his or her given name, "Nurul Izzah".
Yang Berhormat Lembah Pantai
 Nurul Izzah Anwar

Incumbent
Assumed office 
8 March 2008
Preceded by Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil
Majority 2,895

Born 19 November 1980 (1980-11-19) (age 27)
Political party Parti Keadilan Rakyat
Spouse Raja Ahmad Shahrir
Children Safiyah
Religion Islam
Website http://www.nurulizzah.com/site/

Nurul Izzah binti Anwar (born November 19, 1980) is a Malaysian politician from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), and is the current Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai. She is the daughter of Anwar Ibrahim, a former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister and the current de facto opposition leader and of the PKR.[1] Her mother, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, is the President of PKR.

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[edit] Education

Nurul Izzah attended Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Damansara for her primary education, and then Sekolah Menengah Sri Hartamas, both in Kuala Lumpur. She later attended Assunta Secondary School in Petaling Jaya. In 2004, she graduated with a Bachelor in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Universiti Tenaga Nasional, and in May 2007 graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a Masters in International Relations.[2]

[edit] Career

Social Work

After her father's arrest in 1998 on charges of sodomy and graft, Nurul Izzah campaigned for his release, speaking at international venues condemning the Malaysian government. In 2001, together with Suaram she briefed the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on Malaysian politics and human rights issues.[2]


Political Career

In the 2008 general election, Nurul Izzah contested the seat of Lembah Pantai in Kuala Lumpur which the seat was contested by three candidates. There were speculations that she ran for the seat possibly to be taken over by her father, who was disqualified from running for office until April 2008, though she quickly rejected such claims.[1] The seat was defended by three-term incumbent Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who was Minister for Women, Family and Community Development in the Barisan Nasional government.[1] Initial reports suggested that Shahrizat would retain the seat, as she had been a popular Minister, and in the 2004 election retained her seat with a majority of 15,288.[1][3] However, on polling day, Nurul Izzah won 21,728 votes to Shahrizat's 18,833, and was elected as the new MP for Lembah Pantai.[4]

The defeat of the powerful three-term incumbent by a new face was one of the many surprises in this election that saw significant losses of parliamentary seats by the ruling party.[5]

[edit] Election results

Year Parliamentary seat Votes Obtained Majority Ballots Cast Opponent Turnout
2008 P121 Lembah Pantai 21,728 won by 2,895 41,289 Shahrizat Abdul Jalil (BN - UMNO),
Periasamy a/l Nagarathnam (Independent)
72.88%

[edit] Personal life

Nurul Izzah is married to Raja Ahmad Shahrir, who works in corporate finance.[2] They have a daughter named Safiyah. She is also extremely eloquent and she is said to be as charismatic as her father, which was one of the factors that drew votes from the public.

[edit] References

[edit] External links