Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today announced that he will be defending the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat in the upcoming 13th general election.

The former deputy prime minister made this announcement in front of thousands of his supporters who gathered at his ceramah in Seberang Jaya.

Prior to this, speculations were rife that he would be moving away from his stronghold constituency in Permatang Pauh to Perak.

In fact, Anwar himself had made his intentions to stand for elections in Perak, pretty clear.

Keadilandaily.com reported that Anwar however said he needs to go back to Permatang Pauh to pacify his voters.

“I want to bring up the spirit of the rakyat there.

“My intention is to strengthen our position in Perak and not to disrespect the support from friends in Permatang Pauh,” he said on Wednesday.

Anwar re-contested for the Permatang Pauh seat in 2008 in a by-election and won.

Anwar won with a majority of 15,671 votes, beating Arif Shah Omar Shah of the BN and an independent candidate, Hanafi Mamat.