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KUALA LUMPUR – As observers predicted, Barisan Nasional (BN) cruised to yet another state election victory, winning 40 of the 56 seats contested.
Despite it being far from an unexpected outcome, several eye-opening moments were worth talking about as the vote counts trickled in.
The Vibes takes a brief scroll through the winners and losers from the just-concluded election.
Biggest winners
1. Barisan Nasional (BN)
With yet another two-thirds victory, the old guard of Malaysian politics seems to be on the comeback trail following its 2018 general election loss to Pakatan Harapan.
The Election Commission (EC) announced around 11.30pm that BN had obtained the minimum 29 seats to form a simple majority in the legislative assembly.
Less than 45 minutes later, the final tally on EC’s live dashboard showed BN had won a total of 40 seats.
The coalition led by Umno will presumably begin applying pressure on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to trigger a snap election to bank on its latest victory.
2. Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda)
Managing to secure one seat in what seemed like a walkover by BN for the opposition, the youth-led party now has answers for critics questioning its mettle as an actual political alternative.
This, despite losing out in seats contested by party leaders like Lim Wei Jiet in Tenang, and Muda’s insistence to compete against PKR in Larkin, resulted in losses for both parties.
Muda’s victory in Puteri Wangsa secured by secretary-general Amira Aisya will address the perception of the party being only popular on social media without actual electorate support.
3. MCA and MIC
From being almost wiped out in 2018, BN’s component parties have done well to wrest four of the 15 seats contested – Yong Peng, Bekok, Pekan Nenas, and Paloh.
Among the more notable wins was securing Yong Peng from DAP incumbents, where Lian Tian Soon managed 9,870 votes, with a 2,741 majority of second-placed Alan Tee Boon Tsong.
MIC also made a comeback by winning three out of the four seats it contested in, including Tenggaroh incumbent Raven Kumar Krishnasamy and fresh wins in Kahang and Kemelah.
Despite strong protests from BN, the EC maintained PKR’s sole victory in Bukit Batu with MIC’s S. Suppayah losing by only 137 votes.
Biggest losers
1. Pejuang and Warisan
The debut of the Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad-led party at the polls was largely underwhelming, with all 42 candidates losing in their seats.
Also, losses of at least RM210,000 will be recorded by the party as all their candidates failed to garner enough vote shares to have their RM5,000 deposits refunded by the EC.
As an illustration of them punching below their weight, BN won the Pemanis seat with a vote count of 8,678, with second place Yoong Thau of PKR receiving 4,491 votes.
Pejuang’s Azita Amrin who came in fourth garnered only 247 votes, behind third-placed Uzzair Osman of Perikatan Nasional (PN) who had 3,825 votes.
Meanwhile, Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal’s Warisan also failed in the six seats they contested for, with all their candidates also failing to receive enough votes to retrieve their deposits.
2, Perikatan Nasional (PN)
With winning only three out of the 56 seats, PN now faces more questions than answers as the coalition finds itself in a difficult position trying to compete as a coalition on its own.
Chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had even offered to resign following the abysmal performance.
The coalition only managed to secure Maharani, Bukit Kepong, and Endau, with several candidates failing to secure enough votes to retain their election deposits.
3. PKR
PH’s component party walked away with only one seat from 20 it contested, failing to make headway after disappointing scores in the Melaka and Sarawak elections.
The party’s sole victory in Bukit Batu with a majority of only 137 votes could be interpreted in many ways, with senior party leaders also failing to secure meaningful wins.
The most notable loss could arguably have been Maszlee Malik’s failure in Layang-Layang, losing to BN’s Abd Mutalip Abd Rahim by almost 3,000 votes.
Among the big names who failed include Johor PKR women chief Napsiah Khamis Maharan’ loss in Kempas to BN’s Ramlee Bohani by 3,514 votes. – The Vibes, March 13, 2022
