JOHOR BARU: The Mahkota by-election shows that Pakatan Harapan's voter base is "transferable" to Barisan Nasional, says Liew Chin Tong.
The Johor DAP chairman said that Barisan candidate Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah's massive victory also shows that the coming together of Pakatan and Barisan is a winning formula for the 16th General Election.
He added that Perikatan Nasional's Mohamad Haizan Jaafar received 7,347 vote while Syed Hussien received 27,995 votes or 79% of the votes, a 20,648-vote majority.
Liew said that during the March 2022 Johor state polls, Barisan received 16,611 votes, Pakatan 11,445 and Perikatan 7,614.
"The combined votes received by Barisan and Pakatan during the state election was 28,056, which is very similar to yesterday's by-election," he said on Sunday (Sept 29).
He said that the result augurs well for further consolidation of cooperation among the parties that form the unity government.
"With stronger cooperation, effective governing and inspirational policies, the unity government will be able to convince the middle ground, especially those who did not turn up to vote," he said.
He added that the unity government must be able to win elections together to ensure stability and continuity.
Voter turnout for the by-election on Saturday (Sept 28) was 53.84%, slightly lower than the 57.34% turnout in 2022.
