DANYAL Balagopal Abdullah today said he was happy that Anwar Ibrahim had accepted his offer to step aside for the PKR president to contest the Port Dickson seat.

“After having discussed with party leadership, Anwar has decided to accept my offer and choose PD as the constituency,” said Danyal, in a press conference at the party headquarters.

“I am announcing my resignation as a member of parliament with immediate effect.”

He said he had conveyed his offer to Anwar via party vice-president Rafizi Ramli and party secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

“They were both elated and told me they would inform Anwar of my decision.

“I then had several meetings with Anwar who obliged my request for him to contest in PD.”

This paves the way for Anwar to return to the Dewan Rakyat – a necessary step if he is to succeed Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister in two years.

Danyal, a former Navy man, was a surprise last-minute candidate for the sole seat in Negri Sembilan that PKR was contesting in the May 9 elections.

He won the seat formerly known as Teluk Kemang with a 11,116 majority, beating MIC’s VS Mogan and PAS’ Mahfuz Roslan.

Danyal said his resignation did not make him a traitor to those who had voted for him.

“The word traitor is a bit strong. I’ve campaigned on the ground for the last one and half years.

“I’m not quitting on my people, I’m staying on in Port Dickson and I’ll be the eyes and ears on the ground for Anwar,” he said. 

The first-time lawmaker said the constituents would be proud to have the future prime minister as their representative.

“That message is very clear to the people in Port Dickson. They are elated that the PM in waiting is coming to their area.”

Meanwhile, PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail rubbished rumours that Danyal was compensated for giving up the Port Dickson seat. 

“Nothing was paid. That is the beauty of being a PKR member,” he said. 

 Port Dickson has the country’s fifth largest number of early voters, who make up 9.44% of its electoral of 61,000 voters. It has a winning margin of 18.12% for PKR.

The racial composition of the electoral is 43% Malays, 33% Chinese, and 22% Indians. –  September 12, 2018.