Not taking PD voters for granted
Published on: Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Kuala Lumpur: He may be a household name in the country's political scene, but PKR President-elect Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (pic) is not planning to rest on his laurels in the coming by-election for the Port Dickson parliamentary seat."In my political life and career, I have never taken things for granted."You have to work hard, you have got to meet the people to explain and naturally, you won't have 100pc support," he told reporters after attending a youth dialogue and book launch titled A People' s History of Malaysia authored by Dr Syed Husin Ali on Sunday (Sept 16).
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He said it was crucial that Pakatan Harapan continued to garner support from voters in Port Dickson."To them, you may be known, you may be accepted elsewhere but then, what is critical is the support from Port Dickson," he added.On Umno MP Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz statement that he would support him in the polls, Anwar said anyone is free to support him but it has to be on the appropriate platform."Anyone who wants to help, we should be prepared to consider.
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"The issue is whether it is on the platform of Pakatan Harapan or PKR, which is certainly not the case," he said.Asked if he will be able to attend Parliament as an MP for the coming budget sitting, Anwar said it was up to the Election Commission (EC) to fix the date for the by-election.
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"And finally, its the people who will decide if I will be voted in and there is no certainty (of victory) and I have to work very hard," he said.Parliament will convene this Oct 15 with Budget 2018 expected to be tabled by the Prime Minister on Nov 2.Anwar received a royal pardon on May 16 from the Yang diPertuan Agong for his sodomy conviction.This paved the way for him to contest a seat in Parliament. If he wins, he will eventually take over as the eighth prime minister, as agreed by Pakatan Harapan in a power transition agreement in January 2018.On Wednesday (Sept 12), PKR MP for Port Dickson Datuk Danyal Balagopal Abdullah announced that he was relinquishing his seat to allow Anwar to contest in a by-election.The EC will meet in the coming week to fix the date for the poll. Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof officially informed the commission that Danyal had vacated his seat.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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