Analyse Tanjung Piai by-election results and take action, says Penang CM

GEORGE TOWN: The Tanjung Piai by-election results must be analysed to find out the reasons behind the vote swing, says Chow Kon Yeow.

The state Pakatan Harapan council chairman and Penang Chief Minister said looking at the results, Pakatan only managed to obtain 10,000 votes across the board.

“I think this is expected. The unexpected thing was the margin of loss which we definitely have to pay attention to.

"We need to look into reasons as to why Pakatan was rejected by voters.

“Actions have to be taken to fix the situation.

“Maybe they support Barisan Nasional, or perhaps it is just unhappiness or dissatisfaction.

“So we got to find out the real reasons, do a post-mortem and take appropriate action to address the problem, ” Chow said at a press conference after attending the "Remembering Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu" seminar and book launch at Penang Institute in Jalan Brown on Sunday (Nov 17).

According to Chow, if there was a need for a reshuffling strategy, then it should be done.

“But based on the results of this by-election, I am afraid whatever strategy would not be able to satisfy the voters or appease their thoughts towards Pakatan’s administration, ” he added.

During the by-election on Saturday (Nov 16), Barisan reclaimed the Tanjung Piai parliamentary seat from Pakatan with a thumping majority.

Barisan’s Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng reportedly won with a 15,086-vote majority.

Jeck Seng obtained 25,466 votes while Pakatan Harapan’s Karmaine Sardini came out in second place with 10,380 votes.

Meanwhile, Gerakan’s Wendy Subramaniam got 1,707 votes and Berjasa’s Datuk Dr Badhrulhisham Abdul Aziz got 850.

Independents Dr Ang Chuan Lock and Faridah Aryani Abdul Ghaffar got 380 and 32 votes respectively.

There were 595 spoilt votes. The voter turnout was good at 74.43%.

The seat fell vacant after Datuk Dr Md Farid Md Rafik, who was also Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, died on Sept 21 at Pontian Hospital due to a heart attack.

Dr Farid, 42, who was also Tanjung Piai Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia division vice-chief, won the seat in the last general election after beating MCA's Wee Jeck Seng and PAS' Nordin Othman with a majority of 524 votes.