Parti Keadilan Rakyat leader Anwar Ibrahim easily won his parliamentary by-election in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan on Oct. 13, moving him closer to becoming Prime Minister.

Anwar enjoyed the support of his former nemesis turned ally, current Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad during his campaign.

Impressive margin of victory

Facing off against six other opponents, Anwar secured 31,016 votes, or 71.3 per cent of the vote share.

He won with a huge margin of 23,560 votes, according to the Star Online.

The opposition Barisan National coalition chose to boycott the election, and did not send a candidate to compete.

Said Anwar:

"What is astounding to me is because we have managed to garner favourable support from all ethnic groups.

I will focus on my work assisting our leaders in Parliament ensure we embark on all effective parliamentary reforms and I'm sure I will get full support from my colleagues."

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Anwar will be officially sworn in as the MP for Port Dickson on Monday, Oct. 15.

As an MP, Anwar is now eligible to become Prime Minister sometime in the future.

Mahathir has stated on several occasions that he will hand over the reigns of power to Anwar.

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Top image from Anwar Ibrahim's Facebook page.