KUALA LUMPUR – As the dust of the Johor election settles, some 85 hopefuls who failed to garner the minimum number of votes will see their election deposits forfeited amounting to almost half a million ringgit.
Each candidate who failed to obtain at least 1/8 or 12.5% of the total number of votes will see their RM5,000 candidacy deposits absorbed by the Election Commission.
Pejuang loses RM210,000 in forfeited deposits
In the case of Parti Pejuang, all 42 of its candidates fielded at the election failed to obtain the minimum number of votes and will have their deposits amounting to RM210,000 forfeited.
This includes their current Sri Gading MP Datuk Sharuddin Md Salleh who lost in the race for the Panti seat to Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Hahasrin Hashim.
Hahasrin won the seat with 12,599 votes with a majority of 5,854 votes. Sharuddin only managed 334 votes. The constituency has 38,408 registered voters.
Another unwanted record set by Pejuang at the recent polls was how one of the candidates received the lowest number of votes across all 56 seats.
Their Bukit Naning candidate Datuk Ibrahim Shafee only managed a measly 86 votes in a constituency of 22,594 voters.
The seat went to BN’s Datuk Mohd Fuad who received 5,437 votes.
Independents lose RM80,000
All 16 independent candidates who took part in the state election failed to secure the required number of votes to retrieve their deposits.
Most of the independents gained votes in the hundreds, the lowest being Ismail Don with 77 votes from the Endau seat.
The highest number of votes received by an independent was Zahari Osman with 2,190 in the Penggaram seat, losing to Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) Gan Peck Cheng who had 18,208 votes.
PKR loses RM35,000
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s party only managed to secure one seat from the 20 they contested for, with seven candidates failing to obtain enough votes to regain their deposits.
These include their candidates in Sri Medan, Semarang, Tenggeroh, Pasir Raja, Johor Lama, Tg Surat and Benut.
Among these, the worst performance came from their showing in Tg Surat where their candidate Rosman Tahir only managed 800 votes in a constituency with 25,132 voters.
The seat went to BN’s Aznan Tamin with 9,850 votes.
Warisan loses RM30,000
Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal’s debut performance in the peninsula was an underwhelming showing with all their candidates also losing out on their RM5,000 deposits.
Their worst performing candidate was A. Sandara Segaran who only mustered 330 votes in a seat with 27,426 voters.
Meanwhile, their best performing candidate was Victor Chen Hain Kai who managed 1,448 in a constituency with 91,882 eligible voters.
PBM, Putra, PSM lose RM30,000
Newcomer Parti Bangsa Malaysia was confident in making inroads this time around, hoping to gain from the introduction of youth voters.
However, their candidates in Maharani, Tiram, Puteri Wangsa, and Stulang all failed to obtain sufficient votes to retrieve their deposits.
Party vice president Steven Choong only managed 2,471 votes as the party’s best candidate, with Maharani hopeful stumbling with only 190 votes.
Separately, Parti Bumiputra Perkasa Malaysia’s (Putra) sole candidate Kamarolzaman Mohd Jidi managed only 247 votes in Semerah.
Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s Kota Iskandar also saw his deposit absorbed by the EC after only managing 997 votes in a constituency with 116,415 voters.
Parti Amanah Negara loses RM20,000
Despite managing to retain their Simpang Jeram seat, Amanah’s candidates ended up losing their deposits in the Endau, Sedili, Panti, and Penawar seats.
Among these seats, their worst showing came in the Sedili seat where candidate Tok Mat Khairi received only 333 votes in a constituency with 28,659 eligible voters.
Perikatan loses RM20,000
Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional’s abysmal showing was compounded further by his willingness to resign as the coalition chairman, leaving them with more questions than answers.
PN only managed to obtain three seats out of the 56 contested, with four candidates losing their deposits, namely those contesting in Yong Peng, Layang-Layang, Mengkibol, and Paloh. – The Vibes, March 13, 2022