The Malaysian Insight

WHILE Anwar Ibrahim looks certain to win the Port Dickson by-election hands down, said political analysts, the PKR president-elect should not be seen to be in a rush to become the next prime minister.

Penang Institute political analyst Wong Chin Huat said Anwar needed to be more statesman-like if he is going to be the next prime minister.

“He needs to strike the right balance. He needs to be a sort of unifier. He needs to be able to show that he has vision but is not being pushy with Dr Mahathir (Mohamad),” said Wong.

He added that Anwar, to his credit, sounds calmer now and not as defensive as before in forcing a by-election to pave his return to Parliament.

Merdeka Centre pollster Ibrahim Suffian said Anwar’s stature and Pakatan Harapan’s dominance at state and federal levels will help him the by-election.

“Anwar will hands down be the winner in Port Dickson. The other independents don’t really stand a chance.

“The PAS candidate may still attract the hardcore supporters but these are limited in number in Port Dickson,” Ibrahim told The Malaysian Insight.

The Port Dickson by-election was called after incumbent MP Danyal Balagopal Abdullah, of PKR, vacated the seat to allow Anwar to contest.

It is a seven-cornered fight with five independents in the ring. Anwar’s challengers are PAS’ Mohd Nazari Mokhtar and independents Isa Samad, who is the former Negri Sembilan menteri besar, Saiful Bukhari Azlan, Lau Seck Yan, Stevie Chan and Kan Chee Yuen.

Umno and Barisan Nasional are not participating in the by-election.

Universiti Utara Malaysia analyst Azizuddin Sani said Anwar has successfully played up his prime minister-designate status to Chinese and Indian voters in Port Dickson.

“But the Malay voters here, especially those above 45, are not buying it,” he said.

Azizuddin said these Malay voters were leaning towards Isa who had quit Umno to contest as an independent.

“This group has a sentimental attachment to Isa who was their menteri besar for 22 years. That sentiment is still strong.

Ilham Centre CEO Mohd Azlan Zainal said the number of Malay votes for Anwar in Bagan Pinang and Linggi would indicate the strength of Malay support for him.

He did not think Malay voters would favour Isa, saying the time of people feeling indebted to Isa was over.

“The present generation is aware of the scandals affecting Isa, especially the corruption issues pertaining to FGV and Felda,” he said.

He said Anwar was moving aggressively into Umno areas in the constituency.

Ibrahim, meanwhile, said Umno’s decision to boycott the by-election had given Anwar a great advantage.

He warned that the turnout would be low on Saturday, but that would be “only be a temporary loss of prestige which won’t be held against Anwar”.

“Voter turnouts since the general election have been low. I expect this turnout to be lower than the turnout for thebecause voters who live out of town won’t take the trouble to vote in an election that doesn’t affect the national picture.”

Anwar is en route to a comeback in Parliament after receiving a royal pardon for sodomy from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on May 16.

After his release from prison, Anwar had said he was in no rush to get back into politics but that soon changed when MPs in his party offered to give up their seats for him to contest.

Anwar has also said he would not be pushing to replace Dr Mahathir as the prime minister needed to stay on to reform Parliament.

On Wednesday, at a ceramah attended by Dr Mahathir in his capacity as the Bersatu chairman, Anwar said the 93-year-old was the best man to lead the nation now.

Under a PH agreement, Anwar is set to replace Dr Mahathir as the prime minister in two years. – October 11, 2018.