GE15: Penang Pakatan disappointed for not achieving target, says Chow

BUKIT MERTAJAM: Penang Pakatan Harapan is disappointed that it did not accomplish its aim of retaining at least 11 seats in the 15th General Election (GE15).

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who won the Batu Kawan seat, conveyed his appreciation to his team but at the same time, expressed his disappointment that Penang Pakatan did not achieve its goal.

“Although I have won the Batu Kawan seat with a big majority, Pakatan did not accomplish its aim of retaining at least 11 seats that the coalition had won in GE14.

“We cannot be happy as we failed to achieve our aim of retaining Pakatan’s 11 seats.

“We managed to win 10 seats and lost Permatang Pauh where Nurul Izzah Anwar, who is the incumbent, did not win the seat again.

“Our wish to win the Kepala Batas and Tasik Gelugor seats also did not happen,” he said at his operations centre in Iconic Hotel.

Chow acknowledged that there were defects in terms of Pakatan’s goals.

Chow won the Batu Kawan seat with a majority of 40,400 votes in a five-cornered fight against Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s Lee Ah Liang, local community leader Datuk Tan Lee Huat from Barisan Nasional, Parti Warisan’s Ong Chin Wen and Perikatan Nasional’s Wong Chia Zhen.

As of Sept 15, Batu Kawan had 88,864 voters, with the Chinese making up 53.9% or 47,944 voters.

There are also 20,393 Malay voters and 19,765 Indians, while the other 762 are other races.

There are 13 parliamentary seats up for grabs in Penang – six on the island and seven on the mainland.

Before the dissolution of Parliament on Oct 10, Pakatan held 10 seats, with DAP having seven and PKR three.

Perikatan and Barisan have two and one seats respectively.