NIBONG TEBAL: Perikatan Nasional candidate Abidin Ismail’s wish to continue the legacy of his boss and predecessor came true when he emerged victorious in the Sungai Bakap by-election with an even bigger winning majority. The 56-year-old former logistics executive garnered 14,489 votes to defeat Pakatan Harapan candidate Dr Joohari Ariffin who secured 10,222 votes.
This means Abidin, who was the aide to former Sungai Bakap assemblyman Nor Zamri Latiff, has outdone his former boss by winning the seat by a 4,267-majority. There were 208 spoiled votes while turnout was recorded at 63.45% of all eligible voters.
In the 2023 state election, the late Nor Zamri had captured Sungai Bakap by a 1,563-vote majority defeating Nurhidayah Che Rose from Pakatan.
The official results of the Sungai Bakap by-election were announced by Sungai Bakap returning officer Khairulnizam Hashim, at the official vote tallying centre in the Jawi multipurpose hall last night.
Earlier, eight polling stations with 65 voting streams were opened simultaneously at 8am for the constituency’s 39,151 eligible voters to cast their ballots. Early and postal votes made up one more voting stream.
The by-election was held following Nor Zamri’s death on May 24 due to stomach inflammation.
Malays make up 59.2% of voters of the seat, which had been a Pakatan stronghold since the 12th General Election in 2008. Chinese voters comprise 22.4%, while Indians and others make up 17.2% and 1.2% of voters respectively.
The Sungai Bakap state polls is the eighth by-election since GE15. Previous by-elections were for the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat in Terengganu, the Simpang Jeram state seat and the Pulai parliamentary seat in Johor, the Pelangai state seat in Pahang, the Jepak state seat in Sarawak, the Kemaman parliamentary seat in Terengganu and the Kuala Kubu Baharu state seat in Selangor.
Despite the fact that its result would have little impact on Pakatan’s hold on Penang, Sungai Bakap was framed by Perikatan as a referendum on the Pakatan-led Federal Government’s management of the economy especially its decision to replace blanket diesel subsidies with a targeted system.
Perikatan has blamed the targeted subsidy system for raising the prices of goods and services, while the unity government alliance, of which Pakatan is a part of, claims that most of these subsidies are wasted through smuggling and benefit the wealthy.
Speaking to reporters later, Penang Pakatan Harapan chairman Chow Kon Yeow accepted the results of the polls, saying that it reflected the public’s voice on the current political climate in Penang and Malaysia.
Chow, who is Penang Chief Minister, said the campaign showed good cooperation within coalition parties but failed to effectively communicate and convince voters about national, state, and local issues.
Chow said there was a significant drop in voter turnout, particularly among the Chinese and Indian communities, which contributed to the defeat.
