Sg Bakap polls: Pakatan accepts defeat

NIBONG TEBAL: Accepting defeat in the Sungai Bakap by-election, Penang Pakatan Harapan chairman Chow Kon Yeow says it was the choice of the people.

Chow acknowledged that they had lost the seat to Perikatan Nasional with a larger majority than in the previous state election.

"We accept the results as this is the decision of the people. The results reflected the public's voice on the current political situation in Penang and the country.

"We have failed to convince the rakyat on national, state, and local issues which the electorate thinks are important," he told reporters at the Pakatan vote tallying centre at the Bukit Jawi Golf Resort, Nibong Tebal, Penang.

Chow said Pakatan would conduct a post-mortem to analyse the campaign's weaknesses, strengths, and reasons for the decreased majority.

"After the post-mortem, we will be able to get a better picture and take the necessary actions. Putting politics aside, the issues raised during campaigning by the locals will be taken into consideration to find solutions for the people. We will not set aside the people here just because we did not win," he said.

Chow said the campaign showed good cooperation within coalition parties but failed to effectively communicate and convince voters about national, state, and local issues.

Chow noted a significant drop in voter turnout, particularly among the Chinese and Indian communities, which contributed to the defeat.

"The Chinese voter turnout was estimated at 49%, a 13% drop from last year’s polls. As for the Indian community, there was no change and turnout remained the same," he said.

Perikatan's Abidin Ismail emerged victorious in the Sungai Bakap state by-election.

Unofficial results as of press time showed that the 56-year-old former logistics executive garnered a total of 14,554 votes, giving him a winning majority of 4,269 votes.

Abidin defeated Pakatan candidate Dr Joohari Ariffin, a former educator, who managed to secure 10,285 votes.

The by-election was held following the death of incumbent Nor Zamri Latiff on May 24 due to stomach inflammation.