Tambun's local boy could end Anwar's hopes of becoming PM

But he shrugs off the weight of his task, saying opposition leader Anwar might have giant posters of himself up in Tambun, but the man himself is not a giant.

- Lok Jian Wen

Perikatan Nasional (PN) deputy chairman Faizal Azumu could be the person who finally ends Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's three-decade quest to become Malaysia's prime minister.

"To me, he's just a name, he's just another leader," Datuk Seri Faizal told The Straits Times on the sidelines of his campaign trail.

Pakatan Harapan (PH) president Anwar is staking his future on the semi-urban seat of Tambun, where he has never contested, as part of PH's strategy of making Perak its front-line state.

But Mr Faizal, a former Perak chief minister and local boy who broke Barisan Nasional's seven-term stranglehold on the parliamentary seat in 2018, will be a formidable opponent.

When asked if he can be the one to end Mr Anwar's political ambitions, Mr Faizal said: "I think we have a fair chance. He knows he is facing some tough times in Tambun. If he was very confident, he wouldn't put up posters of that size."

He himself has put up witty billboards that highlight Mr Anwar's northern roots and outsider status. These have deflected discourse on Mr Faizal's status as one of the dozens of lawmakers who defected from the PH coalition in February 2020, after winning their seats in 2018 under the PH banner.