Anwar garnered a total of 31,016 votes, defeating his closest rival, PAS’ Mohd Nazari Mokhtar who gained 7,456 votes.

His 23,560-vote majority surpassed that of former Port Dickson MP Danyal Balagopal Abdullah, despite a low voter turnout of 58.3%.

The other candidates were left far behind: former Negeri Sembilan menteri besar Isa Samad got 4,230 votes, Stevie Chan Keng Leong (337 votes), Lau Seck Yan (214 votes), Kan Chee Yuen (154 votes) and Anwar’s former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan who merely got 82 votes.

Anwar’s victory today removes the final hurdle to his long march to Putrajaya.

In 1998, he was Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s anointed successor, but the two fell out over policy differences as well as accusations of sexual misconduct, leading to Anwar’s dramatic sacking and jailing.

Anwar, 70, made peace with Mahathir in 2016. Both leaders had since then agreed to work together under the PH coalition, which overthrew BN in the historic May polls.

Following the change of government, Anwar, who had been serving a jail sentence for his sodomy conviction, was granted a royal pardon and released, lifting a ban imposed on him from active politics.