KUALA LUMPUR: PKR’s candidate for the Port Dickson by-election, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, looks set to do battle in a five-cornered contest, with several independent candidates having stepped forward.
The latest to enter the fray is said to be former PKR Youth leader, Datuk Mohamad Ezam Mohd Nor, who has reportedly offered to go up against his former mentor, Anwar.
Ezam, however, has yet to officially declare his intention to contest. It was reported that Ezam was scheduled to announce his candidacy on Friday.
The nomination of candidates for the Port Dickson by-election will begin at 9am on Saturday at the Port Dickson Municipal Council Hall.
Election Commission (EC) secretary, Datuk Mohamed Ellias Abu Bakar, said candidates have from 9am to 10pm to submit their nomination papers.
On Thursday, former Negri Sembilan Menteri Besar, Tan Sri Isa Samad pulled off a shock move by announcing that he would be contesting in the by-election. The move surprised many given that Umno and Barisan Nasional had earlier announced that it would be boycotting the polls.
Isa, who is former Umno vice-president, however said he would be standing as an independent, and that he had already quit Umno three days before.
The former Teluk Kemang Umno chief also said that he was contesting because Umno and BN were sitting out the polls.
Meanwhile, Pas, which had earlier said that it would not be fielding a candidate, changed its mind following the Umno and BN boycott. On Thursday night, it announced that it would be fielding Pas Tenggara chief, Liutenant Colonel (Rtd) Mohd Nazari Mokhtar, as its candidate.
Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang on Wednesday had explained that the party was contesting due to the surge in votes it received in the recent Seri Setia and Sungai Kandis by-elections.
The first challenger to Anwar, however, was social media personality Stevie Chan Keng Leong, a well-known figure on Twitter. Another independent candidate, former MIC member Kumar Aamaan, had also announced his candidacy but pulled out soon after.
Apart from Pas, another political party which is fielding a candidate is Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM), who is putting up Ahmad Kamarudin, who is the former Kapar PKR Youth chief. Ahmad had previously offered to contest in the Sungai Kandis by-election but pulled out at the eleventh hour on nomination day.
The P123 Port Dickson seat fell vacant after its incumbent, Datuk Danyal Balagopal Abdullah resigned. He did so to enable Anwar to contest, with the aim of securing the PKR-president elect’s move to Parliament and subsequently enable him to become the country’s eighth prime minister.
In GE14, Danyal secured a 17,710-vote majority, defeating BN’s Datuk VS Mogan and Pas’ Mahfuz Roslan.
This would mark the country’s fourth by-election since GE14. The other three were for state assembly seats in Sungai Kandis, Seri Setia and Balakong, all in Selangor.