KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim welcomes Barisan Nasional's decision not to contest in the upcoming Port Dickson by-election.
The PKR president-elect said he would be happier if no one else would be locking horns with him in the parliamentary by-election.
"I welcome contests (in the by-election) but I am happier because Umno (BN) is not fielding its any candidate.
"However, it seems I will be facing off an independent candidate," Anwar told reporters when met after delivering speech at the "Statesman Lecture" event hosted by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka today.
Anwar was commenting on BN chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamid's announcement that the coalition would be boycotting the by-election.
Zahid said the by-election was engineered to fulfil one's political ambitions and the cost of organising the event at RM3.6 million should be better use for people-centric programmes instead.
As of now, social media celebrity Stevie Chan Keng Leong has announced that he would be running as an independent against Anwar.
It is also understood that Parti Rakyat Malaysia would also field candidate.