KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 — Despite recent speculation to the contrary, PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will not be leaving Port Dickson for another seat in the next general election (GE15).
Several sources for the party told Malay Mail that the Opposition Leader is determined to serve and represent his present constituency of Port Dickson and that the rumours of him standing for election elsewhere are false.
“Datuk Seri and his team have diligently carried out programmes and helped the citizens and voters of Port Dickson ever since he was elected.
“No way is he going away to be somewhere else,” said a source who wished to remain anonymous, referring to Anwar.
Another source agreed with the assessment, saying that Anwar is a hands-on MP and not one to neglect his constituency.
“He visits the constituency almost every week and works hard with the team here,” said the source about Anwar.
Speculation was rife recently that Anwar might switch seats to Pandan, where his wife, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, is the incumbent MP.
Anwar won a six-cornered fight for Port Dickson on October 13, 2018, garnering 72 per cent of the vote.
The chairman of Opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan (PH) also proved his mettle by winning with a majority of 23,560 votes, exceeding that of previous MP Danyal Balagopal Abdullah, who won the parliamentary seat in the 2018 general election by a margin of 17,710 votes.
Meanwhile, it had also been rumoured that Rembau MP and Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin would head to Port Dickson for GE15, because Rembau Umno chief and Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan had Rembau in his sights.
Sources from Umno are unclear at this point but admitted that Port Dickson is one of the likely places for Khairy to stand in the event this should happen, even though it has traditionally been an MIC seat.
“If Khairy has a chance of winning, he will contest there, but for now, there is no confirmation,” a source from Umno told Malay Mail.
Khairy has been Rembau MP since 2008, the year when he contested the seat for the first time. He is also the current Rembau deputy Umno chief.
Mohamad, meanwhile, contested the Rantau state seat, under the Rembau parliamentary constituency.
