IPOH: Pakatan Harapan plans to retake Perak by bringing in the big guns, an analyst said.
Dr Azmi Hassan said Perak Barisan Nasional's strength might be prompting PH to bring in " extra ammunition" to retake the state after losing it during the controversial Sheraton Move.
"Maybe PH is bringing in big guns in Perak because they want to wrest the state government from BN.
"Maybe they see BN as a formidable adversary in the state, so they need some extra ammunition.
"PH chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is an excellent choice to fight BN in Perak.
"That is the more viable reason why Anwar is willing to contest in Tambun.
"I think it's a very safe seat for him in this case," he said when contacted today.
Azmi said he was disappointed when Anwar announced his intention to contest the Tambun seat.
"I thought he will face off against (Datuk Seri) Azmin (Ali) in Gombak and (Datuk) Zuraida (Kamaruddin) in Ampang.
"But Anwar is being a good example. He is willing to take the risk and fight in Tambun, which was won by (Datuk Seri) Ahmad Faizal (Azumu) in the 14th General Election."
He said Tambun was a safe seat for Anwar, like the Port Dickson parliamentary seat he won in 2018.
"Why is Tambun a safe seat? Even though 60 to 65 per cent of voters in the constituency are Malay, support is split between Perikatan Nasional, Barisan Nasional and PH.
"I think if PH can pull 20 to 30 per cent of these Malay voters, Anwar is basically in a safe seat since nearly 80 to 90 per cent of non-Malay voters will be going for PH.
"So that's why I said Tambun is a safe seat, not just for Anwar, but also for other Pakatan Harapan candidates.
"One of the reasons he chose Perak is because he wants to bring development to the northern part of the nation as prime minister.
"But I can't really digest such a reason. You can bring development to any state if you are the prime minister."
Perak has 59 state seats. In the last general election, 25 were won by Barisan Nasional, 15 by DAP, five by Parti Amanah Negara, four by Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, three by Pas, three by PKR, three by Parti Bangsa Malaysia and one by an independent.
The state has 24 parliamentary seats.
Last night, Anwar announced his intention to contest the Tambun parliamentary seat in the 15th General Election.
Anwar has been announced as the prime minister candidate if PH wins the election.
In the 14th General Election, Ahmad Faizal, from Bersatu, won Tambun with a majority of 5,320 votes against BN's Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah and Pas' Ibrahim Zakaria.
Ahmad Faizal was menteri besar before he was ousted after failing a vote of confidence during a State Legislative Assembly sitting in December 2020.