Melaka Polls: Pakatan Harapan concedes defeat ahead of release of the official results

MELAKA: Pakatan Harapan has conceded defeat in the Melaka state polls before official results were announced on Saturday (Nov 20) night, and pledged to conduct a post mortem on the results of the election.

Its secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution said that based on unofficial results it obtained from its operation centres, the Melaka voters had already decided to give its mandate to Barisan Nasional.

"We would like to state that the people of Melaka have made their decisions through the ballot box.

"And based on that, it shows that they wanted Barisan to form a government and Pakatan needs to respect the results," he said at a press conference late Saturday night.

Also present, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) president Mohamad Sabu, DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke and Melaka Pakatan chief Adly Zahari.

Saifuddin said that Pakatan would study the outcome of the polls thoroughly based on each channels and constituency.

Asked if the outcome had anything to do with its decision to accept two former Umno leaders to contest under its banner, he reiterated that Pakatan would study the results first.

"We cannot simply make a conclusion based on a generalisation like that and whether it has anything to do with the two colleagues who contested under the Pakatan ticket," he said.

Mohamad Sabu said that the Pakatan was trailing behind in the rural seats.

He added that he would conduct a postmortem and find ways to reach out to rural voters.

Meanwhile, Loke said although DAP was upset with the outcome of the polls, it managed to secure four out of eight seats it contested.

The state election was being held following the dissolution of the state assembly after four assemblymen announced that they have lost their confidence in the chief minister's leadership.