Tuesday May 7, 2013

GE13: PKR sees decline in majority votes

KUALA LUMPUR: Several top PKR leaders saw a decline in their majority votes despite the Pakatan Rakyat partner winning four more parliamentary seats to take its tally to 30 compared to the seats held at the time of dissolution of the last Dewan Rakyat.

The four additional seats are Batu Pahat (Johor), Bukit Katil (Melaka), Penampang (Sabah) and Miri (Sarawak).

PKR advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim retained his Permatang Pauh stronghold in Penang but suffered a drop in the majority vote to 11,721 from 15,671 in 2008.

It was a similar story for Anwar's daughter and PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah and PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali, whose majority votes dropped while retaining the Lembah Pantai and Gombak parliamentary seats, respectively.

Nurul Izzah beat Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin by 1,847 votes. In 2008, she defeated Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil by 2,895 votes.

Mohamed Azmin obtained a 4,734-vote majority compared to 6,867 votes in the 2008 general election.

Nevertheless, PKR vice-presidents Tian Chua and Fuziah Salleh as well as supreme council member Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin increased their majority votes in the Batu, Kuantan and Bandar Tun Razak parliamentary constituencies, respectively.

PKR's new face Mohd Rafizi Ramli, who is the party's strategy director, managed to capture the Pandan parliamentary seat with a majority of 26,729 votes against Lim Chin Yee of the Barisan Nasional (BN) and Independent candidate Tan Yew Leng.

Elsewhere, Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, Datuk Chua Jui Meng and Dr Abdul Aziz Bari failed in the Kulim-Bandar Baharu, Segamat and Sabak Bernam parliamentary constituencies.

Saifuddin, the PKR secretary-general, was Machang MP; Chua, who is PKR vice-president and Johor PKR chairman, joined PKR in 2009; while Abdul Aziz, a former law lecturer at the International Islamic University of Malaysia, was a new face.

PKR contested 99 parliamentary seats and won 30 in this general election, compared to 2008 when it contested 95 seats and won 31.

However, five PKR MPs quit the party and became Independent MPs, reducing the party's parliamentary representation to 26.

Pakatan Rakyat retained power in Selangor, Kelantan and Penang in the 13th general election. - Bernama

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

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