PAS candidate Mohd Nazari Mokhtar is confident he can get up to 80% support from the security personnel who will be voting in the Port Dickson by-election next week.

After doing his math and relying on his status as an air force veteran, the 57-year-old Nazari felt with the votes from the soldiers and police personnel, he stood to gain an overall 60% support from all the voters in the constituency.

Port Dickson, known as an army town due to the number of camps based there, has 68,486 ordinary voters, 6,690 military voters and 578 police voters.

“We must remember that while there are about 7,000 military and police voters, there are also votes from their families which can reach about 15,000. Adding these, we will have between 21,000 and 22,000 votes to fight for.

“And if our campaign is right, I will not be surprised if we can get 80% of the votes from the security personnel,” Nazari told The Malaysian Insight.

He added that although he had opted for early retirement from the service, he still has high-ranking friends in the armed forces who can influence soldiers.

“I am working not for myself but for our comrades.”

Apart from votes from the security personnel, Nazari also said he stood a good chance of getting about 30% of Malay votes, and the 6,000 votes from PAS supporters in the constituency.

“Adding all of these together, we are confident of getting about 60% of the total votes,” he said, alluding that he stands a good chance of defeating the favourite for the race, PKR’s incoming president Anwar Ibrahim.

This is not Nazari’s first foray into elections. He contested under the PAS banner in Johor twice before, in the 2013 and 2018 general elections, but lost on both occasions. This year, he even lost his deposit.

The by-election on October 13 will see a seven-cornered fight with five independents in the ring, including former Umno strongman and ex-Negri Sembilan menteri Besar Isa Samad.

Leading the race is Anwar with Nazari and independents Saiful Bukhari Azlan, Lau Seck Yan, Stevie Chan, Kan Chee Yuen and Isa in the ring.

The Port Dickson by-election was called after its incumbent MP, Danyal Balagopal Abdullah, vacated the seat to allow Anwar to contest to make his return to Parliament.

There are 72,212 registered voters, consisting of 42.7% Malays, 33.1% Chinese and 22% Indians in the parliamentary constituency.

Nazari also said the crowded field of candidates has given him the advantage.

“Initially we thought our chances were slim but when we found that there were going to be seven candidates, we realised our chances had become better,” he added. – October 2, 2018.