State polls: Penang unity govt to look into people's unhappiness

GEORGE TOWN: The new Penang unity government needs to look into the people's unhappiness which has led to an increase in support for Perikatan Nasional, says state DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow.

"We need to regain their support, this unhappiness was a national thing, but now, it has turned local.

"We will look into the cause of the unhappiness and take the appropriate action," he told reporters at a hotel here on Saturday (Aug 12) following the state polls results.

Penang Barisan Nasional chairman Datuk Musa Sheikh Fadzir said they won two of the six seats they contested, and that they accepted the decision graciously.

"We will conduct a post-mortem to see why the four candidates were rejected, especially the Teluk Bahang candidate who lost by fewer than 1,000 votes.

"The winning candidates will start serving their constituents immediately and rebuild trust in Barisan for the next election," he said, adding that the two assemblymen would give their full cooperation to the unity government.

Penang PKR deputy chief Datuk Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik said the party won seven of 13 seats contested.

"We mostly lost in the Malay-majority areas like Penanti, Seberang Jaya and Permatang Pasir in the Permatang Pauh constituency.

"Perikatan played on the youths' sentiments which we failed to counter despite preparations made.

"Our losses were very narrow and we will need to look closely into this," he said.

Meanwhile, Chow said he was happy that all DAP's first-time candidates won, adding he was looking forward to what they can do.

"I am confident that they will bring about new ideas and changes to the party," he said.