PKR wants Anwar to defend Port Dickson parliamentary seat in GE15

SEREMBAN: Port Dickson PKR wants Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to defend the Parliament seat in the coming polls, says Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun.

Aminuddin, who is Mentri Besar and Port Dickson PKR chief, said voters in the constituency were happy with Anwar and wanted him to represent them again.

"In such a short period, Anwar has done a lot for his constituents.

"Apart from being among the first MPs to provide free tablets to poor children during Covid-19, he had also provided free medical and legal assistance as well as other aid and allocations to the people," he told reporters after handing over the state flag to the Negri Sembilan contingent to the Sukma games.

He said despite being the Opposition chief amid Covid-19 concerns, Anwar had been visiting his constituency regularly.

Aminuddin said if Anwar agrees to defend his seat, this would also give a boost to the state Pakatan Harapan as they would have its national chairman contesting in Negri Sembilan.

Anwar won the seat in a seven-cornered by-election held on Oct 13, 2018 with a 23,560 majority.

Last year, Anwar said he felt "comfortable" in Port Dickson and was prepared to defend the parliamentary seat.

However, the PKR president said that the party leadership will have the final say on this.

On Monday, Anwar said he was undecided if he would be defending the seat as he had been offered other seats by his supporters.

Among the seats was the Tambun seat in Perak which is currently held by Parti Pribumi Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu.

Aminuddin, who is into his third term as Sikamat assemblyman, said he was prepared to contest the Port Dickson seat if instructed by his party.

"If that is what the party wants, so be it," he said.

Prior to becoming Port Dickson PKR chief, Aminuddin was head of Tampin PKR.

He moved his membership to the Port Dickson division in January and this has fuelled talk that he may replace Anwar as the party's candidate for the Parliament seat.

On a separate question, Aminuddin said the state Pakatan has finalised talks on seat distribution with the exception of one or two seats.

"Apart from the one or two seats previously contested by Bersatu, we have finalised talks," he said, adding that seats won in the 2018 polls would be contested by the same party.

Pakatan currently controls 20 of the 36 seats in the state assembly. Of these, 11 are held by the DAP, PKR (six) and Amanah (three).

In the 2018 general election, PKR contested the most number of state seats with 12, followed by DAP (11), Amanah (seven) and Bersatu (six).