Rompin by-election: Barisan retains seat with reduced majority

Hasan Arifin of Barisan declared the winner of the Rompin by-election.

ROMPIN: Barisan Nasional has won the Rompin by-election, albeit with a reduced majority. 

Based on official results from the Election Commission on Tuesday, Barisan defeated PAS with a majority of 8,895 votes. 

Barisan candidate Datuk Hasan Arifin garnered 23,796 votes while PAS’ Nazri Ahmad received 14,901 votes.    

Voter turnout was 73% or about 38,900 of the 53,294 registered voters in the Rompin constituency.

There were 591 spoilt  votes.

The seat fell vacant after incumbent of 23 years Tan Sri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis was killed in a helicopter crash along with five others on April 4 near Semenyih in Selangor.

In the 2013 general election (GE13), Dr Jamaluddin retained the seat by beating former Wanita PAS chief Nuridah Mohd Salleh with a majority of 15,114 votes. Voter turnout then was 85.9%.

The Rompin by-election is the ninth to be called since the May, GE13.