Wan Azizah Wan Ismail

Following the dismissal and arrest of her husband on 20 September 1998, Wan Azizah became leader of the fledgling Reformasi movement. She first led the Social Justice Movement (ADIL), a civil rights NGO, before helping to establish the Parti Keadilan Nasional on 4 April 1999. The establishment of the party saw Wan Azizah elected as the first party president, a position she was re-elected to in 2001.[10]

On 3 August 2003, Wan Azizah brought the party into a merger with the older Malaysian People's Party (or Parti Rakyat Malaysia) which saw the establishment of the People's Justice Party and was elected as the president of the newly merged party.

In the first elections competed by the party in 1999, Wan Azizah led the party to win five seats in the Parliament and was herself elected as the Member of Parliament for Permatang Pauh; the seat formerly held by Anwar Ibrahim; with a majority of 9,077 votes. She successfully retained the seat in the 2004 elections, after five recounts, with a reduced majority.[11]

As a political party leader and also a parliamentary representative, Wan Azizah has spoken at UN-sponsored programs, and the local and international media. She is also the Vice-Chair of the Malaysian Parliamentary Caucus for Democracy in Myanmar and a member of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus.[12]

Wan Azizah won her parliamentary seat of Permatang Pauh in the 12th Malaysian general election with a majority of 13,388.[13] She was supported by all the component parties of Pakatan Rakyat to lead the opposition in the lower house of parliament, House of Representatives.

With the public announcement by Anwar Ibrahim regarding his intention to return to active politics despite being legally barred from doing so,[14] Wan Azizah indicated her readiness to vacate the position of party president if he was elected.[15] Nonetheless, she has also indicated that she intends to defend her parliamentary seat for Permatang Pauh.[16] She resigned her parliamentary seat for Permatang Pauh on 31 July 2008, to make way for her husband, who won the subsequent by-election on 26 August 2008 with a large majority.

Wan Azizah was honoured on the occasion of the official birthday of the Yang di-Pertua Negeri (State Governor) of Penang on 12 July 2008 when she was awarded the Darjah Panglima Pangkuan Negeri (Order of the Defender of the State), a chivalric order of the second rank in the state. The award carries the title Dato' Seri.[17][18]

On 9 March 2014, PKR announced Wan Azizah as its new candidate for the Kajang by-election.[19] This was following Anwar Ibrahim's sentencing to five years in prison after Malaysia's court of appeal overturned his sodomy acquittal, causing Anwar to be unable to run in the by-election.[20]

On 23 March 2014, Wan Azizah was elected as the Selangor state legislative assembly member for Kajang.[21]

A by-election was held for the Dewan Rakyat seat of Permatang Pauh on 7 May 2015,[22] after Wan Azizah's husband Anwar Ibrahim was disqualified from holding the seat after being found guilty of sodomy in a controversial trial.[23][24] Wan Azizah contested the seat against three other candidates,[25] retaining it for PKR with a majority of 8,841 votes.[26]

On 7 January 2018, the opposition alliance Pakatan Harapan announced Mahathir Mohamad as their candidate for Prime Minister in the 2018 election, with Wan Azizah as Deputy.[27] It was announced as part of a deal for Mahathir to serve as interim if elected, seeking a pardon for Anwar and making way for him to take over.[28] Others have speculated, however, that it would be Wan Azizah who would make way for her husband.[29]

•  Penang :
  • Knight Commander of the Order of the Defender of State (DPPN) - Dato' Seri (2008)