KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz says he will campaign for PKR president-elect Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the upcoming Post Dickson by-election.
Nazri, who is Padang Rengas member of parliament, said he was doing it for the good of Umno.
"I'm serious," he was quoted as saying by Malaysiakini.
Asked why he wanted to campaign for Anwar, Nazri said he was doing it in Umno’s best interest to enable the party to get back into government.
"I don't foresee Umno being in government in the near future but there is some common thinking among Umno MPs that we should come back into government as early as possible.
"The only way to do that is to work with PKR so we should show some goodwill if we want to form the government, let Anwar win," he was quoted as saying.
Nazri also shot down a statement by Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, who said Umno would “fight to the death” against Anwar in the by-election.
Nazri said the decision was not Umno’s to make. He also noted that Mohamad was “not an MP and does not know what we MPs are planning."
He said Umno would not win the seat and should let PKR continue its plans to vote Anwar in.
Asked on if he would still campaign for Anwar even if Umno were to contest the seat, Nazri replied in the affirmative and said he wanted to do what was best for Umno and for individual interests.