Anwar and Saiful shake hands as they meet on nomination day

Anwar and Saiful shake hands as they meet on nomination day

The two were seen briefly shaking hands after handing in their nomination papers.

Anwar Ibrahim and his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan (in black jacket) exchanged a brief handshake at the nomination centre.
PORT DICKSON:
Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, the man at the centre of the sodomy charge against Anwar Ibrahim that sent him to jail three years ago, was seen briefly shaking hands with his former boss as both submitted their nomination papers for the Port Dickson by-election.

Saiful said last night that he would not bring up the sodomy case during campaigning.

Saiful and Anwar were among the seven candidates, including former Umno leader Isa Samad, who will battle in Port Dickson after submitting their nomination forms at the Port Dickson Municipal Council this morning.

In 2008, Saiful accused Anwar of sodomising him in an apartment in Damansara. Following a series of court trials and appeals, Anwar was found guilty by the Federal Court and subsequently sentenced to five years’ jail in February 2015.

A week after Pakatan Harapan’s victory in the May 9 polls, he was released after being granted a royal pardon.

The Port Dickson seat fell vacant after its incumbent Danyal Balagopal Abdullah stepped down to make way for Anwar.

In the May elections, Danyal, a former naval officer, won with 36,225 votes, beating Barisan Nasional’s VS Mogan (18,515 votes) and PAS’ Mahfuz Roslan (6,594 votes) in the May 9 general election.

Earlier a minor scuffle erupted as Pakatan Harapan supporters rammed through a barricade in front of the nomination centre.

The incident occurred as Anwar was being escorted to the nomination centre.

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