TAIPING: Pakatan Rakyat (PR) passed another by-election test yesterday by retaining the Bukit Gantang parliamentary seat with a comfortable 21,860 votes or 52.5% of the electorate.
It was initially too close to call the contest between Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Ismail Saffian and PAS’ Datuk Seri Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin who was Perak’s Menteri Besar until he was ousted two months ago when three PR assemblymen went independent.
But in the end, Nizar was clearly ahead of his rival and was not in any doubt about the voters' support.
Nizar polled 21,860 votes to Ismail’s 19,071 while independent Kamarul Ramizu Idris could only draw 62 votes. Nizar’s majority of 2,789 was a strong improvement over the previous PAS candidate Roslan Shaharum's majority of 1,566 votes.
Total voter turnout was 41,626 or 75%, while there were 456 spoilt votes.
Nizar, who had called the by-election a referendum for the people of Perak, said: “This is a win for the people, not just in Perak but for Malaysia”.
The PAS leader said that his first priority is to seek a quick and urgent dissolution of the state assembly so that the constitutional crisis can be resolved.
“The victory also gives a strong signal to the federal government that people don’t want corruption but want justice, good governance, transparency and democracy,” said Nizar.
Asked what the election means for newly appointed prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Nizar said: “As prime minister, he should have the unifying factor which he is lacking at the moment.
The sentiment for Nizar was strong before nomination day, but PAS had come into the race as the underdog.
The win for PAS is the second in a by-election that the party has contested in the space of four months, after Kuala Terengganu in January. It was put on the defensive throughout the campaign with the BN accusing its opponents of treason, besides the issue of land titles and painting Nizar as a stooge of the DAP.
Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who led the BN charge said the coalition accepts the voters' decision although the party had worked hard to explain issues to the people.
"Maybe the voters had already made up their minds," he said.
"I will propose to the prime minister that an independent post mortem be conducted to discover why we lost, what are the issues or the weakness of our machinery," said Muhyiddin.
"The outcome of the post mortem will prepare us better in future."
When asked if the result of the by-elections was a referendum, he said there could be some issues that BN has to deal with.
"But is not a referendum."
"Maybe the feel good factor of the new leadership or new PM taking over has not really sunken in for the people. It is too early to gauge the transition," he said.
Both sides also paraded their big guns to help the campaign with BN bringing in Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on the last day to swing over votes.
Pas’s mursyidul am Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat spent the weekend in Bukit Gantang meeting voters through prayers and ceramah.
Dap who has a sizable number of state assembly and parliamentary members in Perak camped out with top guns such as Karpal Singh, Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng who hosted a sold-out dinner that drew a crowd of about 4,000.
The polling day started well with only Ismail eligible to cast vote. Nizar is not a registered voter in Bukit Gantang while independent candidate Kamarul has yet to register as a voter.
Congested roads and rain in the afternoon slowed down the voting process.
Apart from several light showers and some minor scuffles during the day, polling was relatively incident-free. However, at around noon time at SMK Pengkalan Aur (Changkat Jering), tear gas was fired at the crowds following some altercation between rival followers of BN and Pas.
At SK Panglima Bukit Gantang, the situation was also tense when a bus ferrying 30-odd party workers stopped in front of the polling station.
Water bottles were thrown by the rival camps before six truckloads of FRU personnel restored calm in the are around 2pm.
- Mayu Global executive director Tan Kim Hee detained by police
- Rubber glove makers urge govt to consider emergency support measures amid US tariffs
- Wall Street plunges as Trump tariffs trigger recession fears
- LYC Healthcare CFO resigns a little over a year into service
- Mayu Global, Tuju Setia, Iskandar Waterfront City, TNB, HHRG
- WTO says tariffs could bring contraction of 1% in global merchandise trade volumes
- Apple suppliers tumble as tariffs hit iPhone supply chain
- Fitch cuts China rating on weakening finances, debt concerns
- Economists slash US growth, boost inflation forecasts on tariffs
- Wall Street plunges as Trump tariffs trigger recession fears