PKR’s Sri Tanjung assemblyperson M Ravi predicts that Umno will not field a candidate for the upcoming Port Dickson by-election.

Instead, he suspects that it will be PAS who will go up against Pakatan Harapan candidate Anwar Ibrahim.

"My prediction is that Umno will retreat and PAS will step in," Ravi said when contacted by Malaysiakini.

Sri Tanjung, along with Chuah, Lukut, Bagan Pinang, and Linggi, are state seats under the constituency of Port Dickson.

In the 14th general election, Harapan managed to retain Sri Tanjung, Chuah and Lukut, while BN won Linggi and Bagan Pinang with a slim majority.

‘Umno split into two camps’

"As a local, I can say that Umno in Port Dickson is the most problematic. In fact, Bersatu was born in Port Dickson, showing how weak Umno is there.

"In Port Dickson, Umno is divided into two camps – one aligned to Mohamad Hasan and another to Mohd Isa Abdul Samad. These two camps always boycott each other when there's a poll involving the party," Ravi said.

Mohamad and Isa are both former Negeri Sembilan menteris besar.

Ravi also said that BN Linggi assemblyperson Abdul Rahman Mohd Redza (photo) is unlikely to contest the seat, citing the change in political scene since May 9.

"The political scenario now is different compared to GE14. In the past, BN as the central and state government, used all of their might to win the seats they contested. Even then, they won Linggi with a slim majority.

"They have no such capability anymore now that the government has changed," he explained.

Ravi believes that Rahman is congnisant of the current scenario, and would opt out of contesting in the by-election.

The Negeri Sembilan Legislative Assembly deputy speaker also stressed that PKR is ready for the by-election.

"We are 100 percent ready. Our main objective is to increase the majority from what we had in GE14," he said.

Umno will reportedly make an announcement today on whether it will participate in the by-election.

Former MIC man to fight Umno, campaign for Anwar

Meanwhile, former MIC secretary G Kumar Aamaan, who had announced that he would contest in Port Dickson as an independent, said he would pull out if Umno decides not to contest.

"My objective is to ensure that Umno is badly defeated in this upcoming by-election. If Umno is not contesting, I will back off," he said.

Kumar added that if this comes to pass, he would campaign for Anwar to ensure that Indians in Port Dickson vote for him.

"I have been in Port Dickson for the past two weeks. I visit the Indian voters here. I understand their needs and I will make sure that the support from these voters go to Harapan," he said.

Kumar, who was a PAS candidate for the Tanah Rata state seat in GE14, expressed hope that Anwar will return the PD parliamentary seat to an Indian candidate in the next general election.

"The Indians highly hope that the Port Dickson seat will be returned to an Indian candidate in the 15th general election. In fact, I offer myself to be a coordinator to Anwar if given a chance," he said.

The Port Dickson by-election is being held after the incumbent Danyal Balagopal Abdullah, 68, resigned to pave way for Anwar’s return to Parliament.

In GE14, the former senior navy officer defeated BN candidate VS Mohan and Mahfuz Roslan from PAS with a majority of 17,710 votes.

Port Dickson had been MIC's traditional seat in the past, but the party decided to sit out the upcoming by-election, citing disappointment with Umno for leaving the party out of discussions relating to the election.

Nomination day will be on Sept 29 while Oct 13 has been set as the polling day. There are 75,770 registered voters in the constituency.