BN will have a hard time winning the Permatang Pauh by-elections because of Anwar Ibrahim fanatics, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

 

"Where Anwar used to be, it is extremely difficult, they have fanatics there," Mahathir told reporters.

 

Speaking on the sidelines of an anti-war forum in the Putra World Trade Centre today, the former premier said these fanatics did not care for the truth.

 

"(These) people don't care about reality, for the truth, but they support blindly," he said, without explaining what he meant by ‘truth’.

 

The Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat was vacated after Anwar Ibrahim ( right ) was disqualified as an MP following his five year jail sentence for sodomising his former aide Saiful Bukhari.

 

Nominations for the May 7 poll will be held on April 25, but BN and Pakatan have already started to campaign and give goodies.

 

It is speculated that Anwar's wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail will once again contest the seat, while BN have yet to announce its candidate.

 

'BN to win Rompin'

Meanwhile, Mahathir was confident BN could win the Rompin by-election.

 

"I think support for BN is still there. It will be interesting to know the margins this time," he said.

 

In the 2013 general election, the late Jamaluddin Jarjis retained the seat he had held for 23 years, when he defeated former PAS women's wing chief Nuridah Mohd Salleh with a majority of 15,114 votes.

 

His death in a helicopter crash on April 4, triggered the by-election, which will be held on May 5.

 

BN has announced former Pahang deputy menteri besar Hasan Arifin as their choice for the contest.