KUALA LUMPUR: Barisan Nasional is boycotting the Port Dickson by-election, says coalition chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said Barisan felt that the manner in which the seat was vacated was against the principles of democracy.

“The by-election is to fulfil the agenda of an individual.

“The seat became empty not due to natural causes such as the death of the elected representative.

“It is against the principle of democracy and we are boycotting the by-election,” he told a press conference here on Monday (Sept 24).

Meanwhile, asked if Umno would help PAS if it fielded a candidate, Ahmad Zahid said both parties have not had any final discussions on this, reports Bernama.

“We have not finalised this but our cooperation is based on a case-to -case basis and event-to-event basis like in the Sungai Kandis and Seri Setia by-elections,” he said.

He said that the party also would not support independent candidates in the by-election.

Port Dickson MP Datuk Danyal Balagopal Abdullah vacated the seat on Sept 12 to pave the way for PKR president-elect Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to return to Parliament.

Danyal won the seat in the last general election with a majority of 17,710 votes, defeating Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk V.S. Mogan and Mahfuz Roslan, from PAS.

The Election Commission (EC) has fixed Oct 13 for the Port Dickson by-election, with nomination to be held on Sept 29.