IT is status quo in Kemaman as Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar successfully defended the seat for PAS after surging into an unassailable lead.
The Perikatan Nasional candidate won with a majority of 37,220 votes, bagging 64,998 votes against Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate, General (R) Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor, who got 27,778 votes.
Returning officer Ahmad Farhan Abdul Wahab announced this at the vote tallying centre at the Dewan Berlian Utama of the Kemaman Municipal Council at 10pm tonight.
According to Farhan, the voter turnout was 65.76%. Some 141,790 voters were eligible to fulfil their duty in the by-election.
Samsuri had already begun celebrating at 9.20pm, even before the Election Commission made an official announcement.
He was greeted by thousands of supporters with chants and greetings at the Arena Square hall in Chukai nearby.
He characterised the win as a “game changer” for PN and PAS.
He said securing the victory with such a large majority will open the “door” for PN to take over Putrajaya and rule the country.
“Thank you all. What we saw today in the Kemaman parliamentary constituency, (winning) with a high majority is the result of everyone’s hard work,” he said.
“It will be a game changer and will open the door for us to go to Putrajaya,” he added.
From Arena Square he and the supporters then marched with fanfare to the Dewan Berlian Utama for the announcement.
Kemaman is a coastal district located in southern Terengganu.
The by-election was called following the Terengganu Election Court’s decision on September 26 to nullify PAS candidate Che Alias Hamid’s victory in the general election in November last year.
Che Alias had in that election won the seat with a majority of 27,179 votes after obtaining 65,714 votes to defeat BN’s Datuk Seri Ahmad Said (38,535), Pakatan Harapan’s Hasuni Sudin (8,340), and Pejuang’s Rosli Ab Ghani (506).
Meanwhile, Bernama reported that Samsuri, when by met by reporters, thanked all Kemaman voters and the PAS and Bersatu machineries that helped make the by-election campaign a success over the past two weeks.
He said the victory with a majority of more than 37,000 votes surpassed the expectations of leaders from both parties, although the voter turnout was less than the expected 72%.
“My focus in parliament, Insya-Allah will be on matters not only related to Kemaman but on Terengganu itself, on how we can contribute in various ways to Malaysia’s wellbeing,” he said.
Raja Mohamed Affandi, on the other hand, congratulated Samsuri and PAS on their victory and thanked the 27,778 Kemaman voters as well as the entire Umno, BN and unity government parties’ machinery that supported him.
“We can only put in the effort, and I leave the rest to Allah SWT,” he said in a statement. – The Vibes, December 2, 2023
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