PD POLLS | PKR president-elect Anwar Ibrahim has to win the upcoming Port Dickson by-election convincingly to show that he has the people's support to become the eighth prime minister, according to political analysts. 

Political scientist Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani of Universiti Utara Malaysia said that a small or reduced majority compared to that received by PKR in the 14th general election would not reflect public backing for him to assume the premiership.

"A small majority is acceptable but it will affect the morale of PKR. If Anwar won with a huge majority, this would boost his image and confidence.

"We are talking about the process of him becoming the next prime minister.

"He has to attract as many voters as he can to vote in the by-election, as it has been shown that in the previous three by-elections voter turnout had plummeted," he said.

Azizuddin believes that although the turnout for Port Dickson polls will be low, it will not be as low as those recorded for the Sg Kandis, Balakong, and Seri Setia by-elections – which each saw turnouts of less than 50 percent – due to the "feelgood" factor that Anwar will bring.

'Winning isn't enough'

The sentiment was echoed by Jeniri Amiri of University Malaysia Sarawak, who said that just winning Port Dickson alone would not be enough for Anwar.

"As the PKR president and the future prime minister, winning alone is not enough.

"Anwar has to show that his victory is backed by a convincing majority, so that he can convince the people that he is well accepted," he said.

Jeniri added that a small majority may be exploited by those who seek to stymie his bid to succeed Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister.

"This will give a bad perception to the people. If the majority is small, it will be manipulated by certain quarters to give the impression that Anwar is not popular.

"They will question: how can a man of such influence like Anwar garner such a small number of votes?"

'PD isn't the whole country'

Prominent political analyst Ahmad Atory Hussein disagreed, however.

"The Port Dickson by-election is just a condition for Anwar to return to Parliament. The Port Dickson voters do not represent the voice of the whole of Malaysia.

"If Anwar loses and decides to contest in another constituency, there's a chance that he will win.

"Anwar will not surrender because he is the next prime minister. He is tireless and he has proven his mettle as a politician. He doesn't care whether people are angry or not.

"To him, he contests according to the law and the practice of democracy. If he loses, there is no law to prevent him from contesting in another area," he said.

Ahmad Atory did agree that Anwar would draw voters, and predicted a turnout of over 50 percent.

"The question is whether the voters are compelled to vote to support or oppose him."

Earlier today, BN announced that it would sit out the by-election because it considers the contest a waste of government funds.

With PAS yet to make a decision on whether to field a candidate, the only announced candidates thus far are from PRM and two independents.

One of these independents, former MIC secretary G Kumar Aamaan, said today that he would pull out and campaign for Anwar if Umno decided not to field a candidate.

The Port Dickson seat was vacated after incumbent Danyal Balagopal Abdullah resigned to pave way for Anwar’s return to Parliament.

In GE14, the former senior navy officer defeated BN's VS Mohan and PAS' Mahfuz Roslan with a 17,710-vote majority.

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.