KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN), which are cooperating for the first time in electoral battles, captured three states – Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Penang – in state polls yesterday.
In fact, the PH-BN alliance scored a landslide victory in Negeri Sembilan, winning 31 of the 36 seats up for grabs.
The PH-BN unity pact also won by a two-thirds majority in Penang, capturing 29 of the 40 seats contested, while in Selangor they retained control by winning 34 of the 56 seats on offer.
On the other hand, Perikatan Nasional (PN), which comprises Bersatu, PAS and Gerakan, retained power in Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.
For the first time, PN, contesting under the PAS logo, made a clean sweep of the 32 seats in Terengganu.
PN also won big in Kelantan, sweeping 43 of the 45 seats at stake while in Kedah, the coalition secured wins in 33 of the 36 seats up for grabs.
The PH-BN partnership was established after the 15th general election (GE15) in November last year, which saw both blocs, along with several other coalitions, forming the federal Unity Government, and cooperating in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, Melaka, Pahang and Perak.
GE15 also saw PN capturing Perlis.
The six states decided to sit out of GE15 and postpone their elections until this year. The Election Commission (EC) then fixed Aug 12 for polls in those states with early voting held four days earlier.
A total of 9.67 million electors were eligible to cast their ballots, with Kelantan recording a 60.96 per cent voter turnout, Terengganu (74.79 per cent); Penang (72.67 per cent); Selangor (72 per cent); Negeri Sembilan (68.35 per cent); and Kedah (73.86 per cent).
Two Cabinet Ministers, namely Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, who is also Barisan Nasional (BN) deputy chairman, and Transport Minister Anthony Loke, who is also DAP secretary-general, retained their Rantau and Chennah seats in Negeri Sembilan.
Two former federal ministers – Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican (BN) and Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali (PN) – each defeated their opponents in the constituencies of Bertam in Penang and Hulu Kelang in Selangor.
BN’s Puan Sri Bibi Sharliza Mohd Khalid, the wife of former Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Tan Sri Isa Samad, won the Juasseh seat while Mohd Isa’s son, Mohd Najib (BN) lost in the Bagan Pinang constituency.
Popular rapper Syed Ahmad Syed Abdul Rahman Alhadad, better known as Altimet, also won the Lembah Jaya seat in Selangor on his maiden appearance.
Two former national footballers, Muhamad Radhi Mat Din and Baddrol Bakhtiar, also joined the fray in Kedah on a PN ticket and emerged victorious in Alor Mengkudu and Gurun respectively.
The Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA), Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM), Parti Utama Rakyat (PUR), Penang Front Party (PFP) and independent candidates failed to win any seat in the polls, which saw 96 candidates losing their deposits.
Selangor PN secretary Dr Afif Bahardin won the Taman Medan seat in Selangor in a straight fight with PH’s Ahmad Akhir Pawan Chik by just 30 votes, the slimmest in the polls.
Apart from that, 24 of the 71 women candidates won their seats, and among them was Nurul Syazwani, the daughter of former Selangor UMNO liaison chairman Tan Sri Noh Omar, who won the Permatang seat in Selangor.
The Kuala Terengganu parliamentary by-election, which was held together with the state elections, saw PAS central working committee member Datuk Ahmad Amzad Hashim retaining the seat by defeating PH’s Azan Ismail with a majority of 47,266 votes.
— BERNAMA
