Sungai Bakap polls a referendum on Penang govt, say observers

PAKATAN Harapan’s (PH) loss in the recent Sungai Bakap by-election was not entirely due to the federal government but rather the failure of the Penang state government for not addressing local issues, political observers said.

They told The Vibes the defeat was a referendum on the Penang state government led by Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow rather than Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s administration.

Ilham Centre executive director Hisomuddin Bakar said while voters, especially non-Malays were unhappy with the removal of the diesel subsidy, they were also disgruntled with the state government for not solving local issues such as the water crisis in the state.

“Development in the area is not progressing. There is now an indication that Sungai Bakap would be turned into a developed area but the state government has yet to fix the water issue which has been a problem for many years.

“They have been the government since 2008 but local issues are still a problem such as the water crisis. Combined with federal issues, voters decided to go against the state government.

“The sluggish economy also played a part in the defeat of the unity government,” Hisomuddin said.

Last week, Chow conveniently blamed the loss on a host of national issues, from replacing the blanket diesel subsidy with a targeted model, to inflation, all adding to a perceived increase in the burden on the people.

But other factors also affected the outcome of the by-election, where an estimated 64% of voters turned up at the ballot box.

The low Chinese (22% of voters) and Indian (17%) turnout was a telling factor on Chow’s administration, which was entrusted to deliver the non-Muslim vote. The Malay electorate (59% of voters) was handled by PKR, Umno and Amanah.

PKR was supposed to work in tandem with Umno, which boasted of having some 5,000 registered members in Sungai Bakap to sway the Malay-Muslim ground, but nothing has changed since the 2022 general election.

This was when the majority of the Malay working class felt betrayed by Umno, which then decided to work with its PH archenemies, DAP and PKR, much to the chagrin of its loyal supporters.

Commenting on the low voter turnout among non-Malays, Hisomuddin said the segment decided to ditch PH because of the sluggish economy and the high cost of living.

He said PH has been unable to secure the support of the Malays and has lost the trust of the Chinese and Indians.

“This is a signal to the government that the Malays have not shown any change in terms of support for the unity government.

“After almost two years, the Malays have not turned to PH or the unity government and to make matters worse now their candidates have lost their deposits from the Chinese and Indians who did not go out to vote because they were unhappy or dissatisfied,” said Hisomuddin

Perikatan Nasional (PN) retained the Sungai Bakap state seat with an increased majority of 4,267 votes.

PN’s Abidin Ismail, a 56-year-old former logistics executive got 14,489 votes, while Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) Joohari Ariffin, a former educator, secured 10,222 votes.

In total, 39,279 registered voters were eligible to vote in this by-election, including 57 members of the police force. Total voter turnout was 63.45%.

The seat fell vacant following the death of incumbent Nor Zamri Latiff of PAS on May 24 due to stomach inflammation.

In the 2023 state election, the late Nor Zamri captured Sungai Bakap with a 1,563-vote majority, defeating Nurhidayah Che Rose from Pakatan.

Ibrahim Suffian of Merdeka Centre mirrored certain sentiments expressed by Hisomuddin.

He agreed that the defeat was due to the inability of the state government to fix local issues.

“The water issue has not been resolved as well as the recent water tariff hike. People are not satisfied with the state government who according to them are prioritising industry players more than the people,” he said.

However, he said the low voter turnout among the non-Malays may be due to the insignificance of the by-election.

Ibrahim agreed that the Malay voting pattern has not changed since the 2023 state elections.

“The Malays are still supporting PN. This is apparent since Anwar took over, it is not enough to change their support, especially with young Malay voters.

“For the non-Malays, the sentiment is that the by-election is not important, and at the same time they are unhappy with the economy and worried about the impact of the removal of the diesel subsidy,” he said. – July 17, 2024.