TTF: The National Patriots Association (Patriot) has a major say in the outcome of the Port Dickson by-election.
The association’s head, Brig-Gen (Rtd) Mohamed Arshad Raji, is pissed as hell with PKR’s Danyal Balagopal Abdullah for resigning as Port Dickson MP to make way for Anwar Ibrahim to contest the seat.
Arshad and his men are said to have spent millions to fund Danyal’s GE14 campaign and consider the MP’s resignation a betrayal to both the association and the armed forces on the whole.
Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim is sure to suffer a backlash as a result of this unless he can cajole Arshad by offering him his usual promises and perhaps even a ‘refund’ of the Patriot’s investment in Danyal.
But Arshad is not likely to be taken by such promises or lucre.
Should he or another candidate with military background decide to contest, the chances for Anwar to win the seat would be narrowed down considerably as both the military and Patriot are likely to back that candidate.
Then, should a third independent candidate with the right calibre suddenly emerge, Anwar would be as good as gone but will more than likely retain his deposit.
‘Killing’ Anwar off, if done correctly, is not an impossible thing.
SEREMBAN: Although the Port Dickson Parliamentary constituency is known as one of the strongholds of Pakatan Harapan (PH), efforts to gain supports, especially from the young generation, will still be amplified to face the upcoming by-election.
Negri Sembilan DAP vice-chairman, S Veerapan, said as one of the component parties in PH, DAP would strengthen the party’s machinery to assist PKR president-elect Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to contest in the Port Dickson parliamentary constituency.
“We can see that the previous by-elections showed only 50 per cent of turnout. So we will intensify our campaigning efforts to encourage voters to come out.
“We realise that other than the locals, majority of our strong supporters are also working outside Port Dickson. So campaign efforts in social media will also be expanded so that voters living outside Port Dickson can return home on voting day.
Veerapan said DAP would also focus on young voters who were among the biggest supporters of the party.
“Many of our voters in Port Dickson have been living or working outside Port Dickson, but they still made it to vote during the 14th General Election. We believe this time they will also take part and exercise their rights as this by-election will determine the country’s eighth Prime Minister,” he said when contacted today.
Veerapan said Negri Sembilan DAP fully supported Anwar’s move to contest in Port Dickson and would provide assistance to ensure his victory.
Source: NST Online