THE circus is in town with sodomy victim Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan contesting against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the man he accused of sodomising him, in the seven-cornered Port Dickson by-election.
Anwar is eligible to contest to be MP of Port Dickson even though he was convicted of sodomy as he was given a full pardon by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V on May 16 this year.
WhatsApp went abuzz yesterday morning with the iconic photograph of independent candidate Mohd Saiful shaking hands with PKR president-elect Anwar when they filed their nomination papers at the Port Dickson Municipal Council hall.
It looked like an awkward moment for the accuser and the accused.
Mohd Saiful claimed that nobody was behind him in his decision to contest. He told the media that he had moved on from the controversial Sodomy II case and would not raise the matter during the campaign period.
The former aide of Anwar said he was contesting because he wanted to be in Parliament.
Some in the Anwar camp see him, literally, as a pain in the butt.
“Saiful is a reminder of Sodomy II. They want to use him to embarrass Anwar and also to get the Malays not to vote for him,” said a PKR insider.
Dr Muhammad Asri Mohd Ali, a research fellow with the National Council of Professors, agrees.
“It is to refresh the memory of the people that he was a victim and that Anwar is not a good candidate for Prime Minister,” he said.
Last week, the Port Dickson by-election was shaping to be Anwar vs Stevie – a straight fight.
Stevie Chan Keng Leong was the first to announce his candidacy against Anwar. Chan said he was contesting because the forced by-election to allow Anwar to make a comeback in Parliament was against the spirit of the nation’s democratic process.
“My enemy now is political entitlement and arrogance – represented by Langkah PD – which may see Barisan 2.0 emerge if Langkah PD was condoned and supported,” said the independent candidate whose tagline is #KasiChan (#GiveChance).
The parliamentary seat in Negri Sembilan was vacated by MP Datuk Danyal Balagopal Abdullah of PKR on Sept 12. In GE14, Danyal won the seat with a majority of 17,710 votes against Datuk V. S. Mogan of Barisan Nasional and Mahfuz Roslan of PAS.
From a straight fight and with Umno not contesting, the by-election became a multi-cornered contest.
Seven candidates will be vying for the Oct 13 Port Dickson by-election after one of the eight candidates who filed their nomination papers at the Port Dickson Municipal Council hall here had his papers rejected.
The other candidates are PAS’ Lt Col (Rtd) Mohd Nazari Mokhtar and independents former Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar Tan Sri Isa Samad, Lau Seck Yan and Kan Chee Yuen.
When asked what his strategy was now that Mohd Saiful and Isa are contesting, Chan said: “My strategy? I am a 51-year-old boy from a small village in Melaka. I leave the strategy to my volunteers.
“All I know is the next 14 days would be crucial to the future direction of this nation. And I only plan to go as far and wide to meet as many people as I can to explain why they should reject Langkah PD and vote for a true independent candidate.”
A PKR insider said he was delighted that the Port Dickson by-election was not a straight fight.
“It would have been an easy win for Anwar against an unknown independent, and that would not have been a convincing victory for him. Plus, the voter turnout would have been low as there’s no fight,” he said.
“Now that PAS and Isa are contesting, it will be an exciting fight for the voters. They will turn up. And a higher voter turnout will give credibility to Anwar’s victory.”
It is also good that PAS is contesting, said the PKR insider.
“PAS is an Islamic party and Anwar can show to his ‘super liberal’ critics that he is not what they accuse him of – that is he has an Islamic agenda when he becomes Prime Minister,” he said.
He added that Anwar is the progressive moderate in the middle of the “super liberal” candidate and the candidate from super conservative PAS.
On why Isa was contesting, the PKR insider wondered whether it had something to do with the perceived proxy war between Anwar and Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“Is he part of Dr Mahathir’s strategy to prevent Anwar from becoming PM?” he mused.
That is part of the speculations, Dr Muhammad Asri noted. But it would remain a speculation until it is proven.
“At this stage, it is only an assumption,” he said.
Based on the number of supporters of the candidates at the nomination centre located on top of a hill, Anwar would win hands down. His PKR supporters dominated the tight space in front of the centre and spilled to the main road and the beach about 600 metres away.
It was obvious that many of the supporters were bussed in. They wore the PKR uniform showing that they were from divisions in other states such as Gombak, Bayan Baru and Kampar.
The PAS supporters wearing green were like a small wave compared to the tsunami of PKR members. Isa’s followers wore purple and, like the supporters of the other independent candidates, their number was negligible.
Dr Muhammad Asri crunched the numbers.
For him, the only credible challenger against Anwar is from PAS as only a candidate backed by a party would have the machinery to take on PKR. The rest of the candidates are independents who do not have the machinery to reach out to the voters, unless Isa could rely on his network in Port Dickson.
But it would be near impossible for PAS to win.
“PAS, as we know, can’t win in a seat where there is a majority of non-Muslims. The non-Malay voters will not vote for it. It looks like the result of the by-election is predetermined. Anwar will win,” he said.
However, he said, while the Chinese and Indians would be solidly behind Anwar, the Malay votes would be split as PAS and Isa are contesting.
“We can’t deny that PAS has its supporters. And some Umno members will support Isa,” he said.
In Port Dickson, Malays are 43% of the voters, Chinese 33%, Indians 22% and others 2%.
The PKR insider said that for Anwar to win convincingly and boost his credibility as the Prime Minister-designate, he had to win by at least a 10,000 majority.
Dr Muhammad Asri agreed.
“Anwar’s majority must be at least more than 10,000. It would be embarrassing for the future Prime Minister to get below 10,000,” he said.
It is inevitable that Anwar will win the Port Dickson by-election on Oct 13.
In the meantime, for those who are interested in political tourism, do visit the coastal constituency as the circus is in town.
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