Port Dickson (Malaysia), Sep 29 (IANS): Malaysia's former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his former aide Saiful Bukhari Azlan were among the seven people who registered on Saturday to contest Malaysia's Port Dickson by-election on October 13.

The seat was vacated by Danyal Balagopal Abdullah, a lawmaker from Anwar's People's Justice Party, to pave the way for his party chief to contest the seat and return to Parliament with a view to becoming the next Prime Minister, Efe news reported.

In the May general election, an opposition coalition led by current Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had toppled the ruling alliance of former Premier Najib Razak, which had governed the country since independence in 1957.

Anwar could not contest the elections as he was serving a sentence on charges of sodomy at the time. He was freed later following a royal pardon.

Anwar said he would not be bothered by the running of Saiful in the by-election, according to state media Bernama.

The other candidates were Malaysian Islamic Party's Nazari Mokhtar and independents Isa Samad, social media personality Stevie Chan, Lau Seck Yan and Kan Chee Yuen.