Pakatan wins Sungai Kandis by-election with reduced majority

SHAH ALAM: Pakatan Harapan candidate Zawawi Ahmad Mughni has emerged the winner in the Sungai Kandis by-election with 15,427 votes giving him a  5,842 majority.

His opponent Datuk Lokman Noor Adam received 9,585 votes whilst independent candidate K. Murthy received 97 votes.

Only 49.4 % of the constituency’s 50,800 turned out to cast their votes in the by-election.

Returning officer Datuk Ahmad Zaharin Mohd Saad announced the results at about 9.25 pm.

There were 173 spoilt votes.

The reduced majority was due to a number of factors including lower voter turnout and a straight fight between Barisan and Pakatan, with PAS supporters in the constituency believed to have cast their ballots for Lokman.

There were a total of 110 ballot boxes.

The Sungai Kandis state seat fell vacant after incumbent Mat Shuhaimi, who won the state seat with a 12,480-vote majority in the general election, passed away on July 2.

He had obtained 23,998 votes against Barisan’s Datuk Kamaruzzaman Johari’s 11,518, PAS’ Mohd Yusof Abdullah’s (7,573) and Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s Hanafiah Husin (76).

The Sungai Kandis state constituency, which comes under the Kota Raja parliamentary seat, has 50,800 voters comprising 72% Malays, 12% Chinese and 16% Indians.