PETALING JAYA – It can be said that women’s representation in the recently concluded state elections was rather low, with only 71 names out of the total 572 candidates.
While this only works out to 12.4%, 24 of them won last night, making it a 33.3% or a one-third success rate.
The biggest winner of last night is possibly Amanah’s Dr Hafidzah Mustakim, who successfully penetrated Kelantan for Pakatan Harapan (PH) by winning the Kota Lama seat.
PH did not have any seat in the Kelantan assembly last term.
Kota Lama was previously under PAS. While most of the state constituencies in Kelantan are predominantly Malay majority, Kota Lama and Galas are two areas with significantly higher non-Malay voters compared to other areas.
The seat’s incumbent, Anuar Tan Abdullah, won the seat in the 2018 general election by a small margin of 1,445 votes.
He had held the seat since 1999 but decided not to seek re-election this year, opting to retire.
Dr Hafidzah was up against PAS’ Datuk Zamri Ismail, Tan Boon Kian of Parti Rakyat Malaysia and independent candidate Izat Bukhary Ismail Bukhary.
While her win was razor-thin by a mere 202 votes, it marks a significant success story.
Dr Hafidzah was among the 26 women contesting under PH.
The 14 others who recorded wins include newcomer Phee Syn Tze in Sg Puyu, Penang who won by 21,330 votes against Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Andrew Teow.
As for PN, eight of its 19 women contesting recorded wins.
Another election first-timer, PN’s Nurul Syazwani Noh, won Permatang by 1,728 votes. She is the daughter of former Umno leader Tan Sri Noh Omar.
Barisan Nasional (BN) had the poorest showing of its women candidates as only one managed a win out of the 12 contesting.
BN’s Puan Sri Bibi Sharliza Mohd Khalid, who is the wife of veteran Umno leader Tan Sri Isa Abdul Samad, won Juasseh in Negri Sembilan by just 78 votes. She defeated PN’s Datuk Eddin Syazlee Shith.
Muda crashed and burned last night, with all of its candidates losing their deposits, including 10 women.
Meanwhile, two independents were able to walk away with their heads held high as they garnered enough votes to keep their deposits.
They are Safwan Hanif Shafie in Ayer Hangat, Kedah and Mohamad Rafie Ab Malek in Ampangan, Negri Sembilan.
Safwan gave PN’s Shamsilah Siru quite a fight, garnering 6,877 votes or 30.4%. Shamsilah won by 3,824 votes. Safwan was formerly a Langkawi PAS leader.
As for Rafie, the former Seremban PKR leader managed 3,079 votes, which was 20.7% of the total number of votes. – The Vibes, August 13, 2023
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