BARISAN Nasional (BN) emerged victorious in the Melaka state polls, dealing a blow to Pakatan Harapan (Pakatan) which previously won the state back in the 2018 General Election.
The Perikatan Nasional coalition led by former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin seemed to have won only two seats, with Pakatan seems to have only retained about half of the 15 seats it won the previous general election.
As of press time, BN has won 19 seats, Pakatan (five) and Perikatan (two).
The two UMNO defectors who joined Pakatan, one being former Melaka chief minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron, lost the race for the Asahan seat after BN’s Datuk Fairul Nizam garnered 4,801 votes over the former’s 2,330 votes. Dhanesh Basil from Perikatan secured 1,129 votes.
The other defector, Datuk Nor Azman Hassan was trounced by BN’s Tuminah Kadi for the Pantai Kundor seat, receiving 3,897 votes compared to the former who garnered 2,653 votes, which was even lower than the votes received by Perikatan’s Mohamad Ridzwan Mustafa (3,118).
As for the chief minister aspirants, BN’s Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali defeated his other two contenders by garnering 4,251 votes for the Lendu seat.
Pakatan’s Mohamad Asri Ibrahim secured 1,142 votes while Perikatan’s Abdullah Mahadi garnered 1,360 votes.
Perikatan’s chief minister aspirant Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin was trounced by Melaka UMNO liaison chief Datuk Abd Rauf Yusoh for the Tanjung Bidara seat.
Rauf garnered 3,559 votes as opposed to Mas Ermieyati’s 3,195. Pakatan’s Zainal Hasan only garnered 489 votes.
As for Pakatan’s Adly Zahari, the former chief minister retained his Bukit Katil seat by garnering 4,401 votes compared to BN’s Datuk Hasnoor Husin 3,757.
Perikatan’s Muhammad Al Afiz Yahya received 2,396 votes while Independent Abdul Hamid Mustapah received 81 votes.
On related matter, Malaysiakini reported Pakatan as having conceded defeat and congratulated BN for its thumping victory, winning a supermajority in the state.
Its Melaka chief Adly blamed the outcome due to low voter turnout.
“From the beginning, we anticipated that our chances were better if the turnout was above 70%,” he told reporters at the LaCrista Hotel.
He added that Pakatan leaders would conduct a post-mortem to determine the cause of their defeat and improve from then on.
In an update, the Election Commission (EC) has officially declared BN as the winner of the Malacca state election.
“As of 9.40pm, BN has won 17 out of the total 28 seats, and thus has formed a simple majority to secure the state,” its chairperson Abdul Ghani Salleh told a press conference in Ayer Keroh. – Nov 20, 2021
