Monday May 6, 2013

GE13: Wounded but BN retains Johor

Lim Kit Siang

JOHOR BARU: DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang won the battle for Gelang Patah, defeating Johor Barisan Nasional chief Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman with a majority of 14,762 votes.

The contest was earlier expected to go either way with the Johor Mentri Besar said to have an even chance of defeating the DAP veteran.

At state-level, Barisan retained its two-thirds majority despite a strong showing from the Opposition.

Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin is expected to be sworn is as the new Mentri Besar after winning comfortably against PAS' Syed Othman Syed Abdullah with a majority of 5,752 votes.

PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub turned out to be the biggest loser in Johor as he failed to win in both the Nusajaya state and the Pulai parliamentary seats.

Another PAS candidate who lost two seats was PAS national information chief Suhaizan Kaiat who failed to win in the Simpang Renggam parliamentary and Kempas state seats.

As at press time, the other parliamentary seats believed to have gone to Pakatan Rakyat included Kulai, Bakri, Kluang and Batu Pahat.

The state seats lost included Yong Peng, Sg Abong, Bentayan, Senai, Johor Jaya, Penggaram, Jementah, Tangkak, Pekan Nenas, Mengkibol, Parit Yaani, Pengkalan Rinting, Stulang, Bekok, Puteri Wangsa, Bukit Batu, Maharani and Skudai.

The lion's share of the seats was won by DAP which contested a total of 20 seats comprising six parliamentary and 14 state seats.

All eight independents who contested in the state lost their deposits.

This is the first time the Barisan fortress of Johor has lost so many seats to the Opposition.

In 2008, the Opposition won one parliamentary and six state seats out of the 56 state and 26 parliamentary seats.

At 10.26pm, Johor DAP chief Dr Boo Cheng Hau announced to his supporters that Gelang Patah and Skudai had been won.

The first set of official results was released at the state Election Commission at 10.30pm.

The battle in Johor had been intense with 174 candidates contesting. The voter turnout in the state was about 75%.

For more election stories, please visit The Star's GE13 site

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