KUALA LUMPUR: Barisan Nasional (BN) is boycotting the Port Dickson by-election as it is engineered to fulfil the political needs of an individual.
Speaking at a press conference today, BN chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who is also Umno president, said the by-election was not inline with democratic principles.
He said the decision to boycott the parliamentary by-election was made after discussions were held with BN component parties.
"We are of the stand that a by-election should only be called when there is a necessity, which is when the elected representative dies.
"Only then, inline with the country's democratic needs, we will run for the by-election.
"But this by-election is held to fulfil a person's political ambitions."
The Port Dickson by-election is being held after its incumbent Datuk Danyal Balagopal Abdullah vacated the seat to make way for PKR president-elect Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's return to parliament.
It was also reported earlier that Umno would give way to MIC to run for the seat.
Ahmad Zahid also said that the cost of the by-election which is estimated at a whopping RM3.6 million as cited by the Elections Commission (EC) should instead be allocated for people-centric programmes.
He said it would be a waste to allocate such an expensive amount based on the reason behind the by-election was being held.
"We believe that the expenditure could be put to better use."
On whether it would assist PAS' campaign should the Islamist party decide to run for the by-election, Ahmad Zahid said: "Of course we go on a case-to-case basis concerning our cooperation with PAS, but we are sticking to our decision (in boycotting Port Dickson)."