Pakatan wins big in Penang

All smiles: Supporters celebrating at the Seberang Prai Vocational College counting centre in Bukit Mertajam, Penang. — LIM BENG TATT/The Star

GEORGE TOWN: Pakatan Harapan has lived up to its tag as the favourite, winning 10 of the 13 seats here.

But it was not without a heavy price. PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar lost in her father’s home seat of Permatang Pauh.

The seat had been with her family since 1982, having been won by her father, her mother and herself.

Also falling by the wayside was Barisan Nasional’s incumbent Kepala Batas MP Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican.

Earlier, Barisan also lost its stronghold in Tasek Gelugor to Perikatan Nasional’s Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan.

DAP, however, had a good outing, making a clean sweep of the seven seats it contested. Leading the way was Penang Pakatan chairman Chow Kon Yeow, who emerged victorious in the Batu Kawan parliamentary seat with ease.

“The election is not about Chow Kon Yeow or Batu Kawan, but it is a call for Malaysia to be saved,” he said afterwards.

Chow, who is in his final term as MP, had moved away from his comfort zone in Tanjong on the island to contest the Batu Kawan seat on the mainland.

His six other party comrades also did equally well.

Shocking defeat: Nurul Izzah reacting to the news of her loss in Permatang Pauh. — Bernama

They were DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng (Bagan), legal bureau chief Ramkarpal Singh (Bukit Gelugor), organising secretary Steven Sim Chee Keong (Bukit Mertajam), central executive committee members RSN Rayer (Jelutong), and Lim Hui Ying (Tanjong) and Syerleena Abdul Rashid (Bukit Bendera).

As for PKR, it successfully secured the three seats of Balik Pulau, Bayan Baru and Nibong Tebal, despite Nurul Izzah’s defeat.

Wanita PKR chief Fadhlina Sidek was the surprise package, stealing the limelight in Nibong Tebal by gunning down two-term MP Datuk Mansor Othman of Perikatan to cap a memorable political debut.

Mansor had won the seat earlier on a Pakatan ticket before defecting.

The other two PKR seats – Bayan Baru and Balik Pulau – saw incumbents Sim Tze Tzin and Datuk Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik emerging victorious in keenly fought contests.

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

In the last elections, Pakatan won 11, with DAP getting seven and PKR four while Barisan had two.

Two MPs – one each from Pakatan and Barisan – quit to join Bersatu.

Besides Mansor, the other who defected was Datuk Shahabudin Yahya, who did not contest in Tasek Gelugor this time.