Port Dickson by-election: Anwar Ibrahim, Saiful Bukhari among candidates in 7-cornered fight

A total of seven candidates, including Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s (PKR) Anwar Ibrahim and his former personal aide Saiful Bukhari, will contest in the Port Dickson by-election after they successfully submitted their nomination papers on Saturday morning (Sep 29). 

The appearances of Anwar and Saiful were the highlight of a tense morning, after it was reported just hours earlier that the latter had announced his intention to campaign as an independent candidate. Saiful accused Anwar of sodomising him without consent in 2008, and this later led to Anwar being jailed in 2015 on sodomy charges - allegations he maintains are politically motivated. 

Anwar was released from prison in May 2018 after he was granted a pardon by the king, days after the Pakatan Harapan coalition won in Malaysia’s General Election. 

Besides the pair, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia's (PAS) Mohd Nazari Mokhtar will also campaign for votes for the parliamentary seat.

Meanwhile, former UMNO vice-president Isa Abdul Samad, social media personality Stevie Chan, Lau Seck Yan and Kan Chee Yuen will contest as independent candidates.The Port Dickson parliamentary seat was vacated in September by PKR's Danyal Balagopal Abdullah, a retired navy Rear Admiral, who resigned to pave the way for Anwar to contest the seat and re-enter parliament. 

Anwar is set to be appointed Malaysia’s prime minister in two years, and this election is his first official step in returning to Malaysian politics. 

The seven candidates will campaign for two weeks from Saturday until polling day on Oct 13.