Tuesday May 7, 2013

GE13: DAP happy with election results, says Karpal

<b>Light-hearted:</b> DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng speaking to the press in Penang. With him are Karpal, other Pakatan leaders and newly elected representatives.

Light-hearted: DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng speaking to the press in Penang. With him are Karpal, other Pakatan leaders and newly elected representatives.

KUALA LUMPUR: While PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has every right to question the legitimacy of the 13th general election, DAP chairman Karpal Singh said his party was happy with its performance in the polls.

“If they (PKR) feel that there has been electoral fraud in some constituencies they contested in, they can reject the results in these areas,” he said yesterday.

Anwar had refused to accept the outcome of the elections, claiming that there had been vote-rigging and electoral discrepancies.

Karpal also expressed satisfaction with DAP's win of 38 parliamentary seats in the polls.

“DAP has done very well, especially in Gelang Patah, where the win was unexpected,” he added.

However, party adviser Lim Kit Siang, who defeated Barisan Nasional's Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman in Gelang Patah, said the party would file an election petition to reject the results in areas where it had lost by small margins.

He said the petition would be filed after a detailed analysis of the election results.

“Pakatan Rakyat will look into the constituencies found with problems of electoral fraud before taking the next step, which is necessary to ensure the results are fair and accurate,” he told a press conference yesterday.

Meanwhile, PAS said it would only lodge complaints of electoral irregularities if it found “strong evidence” of fraud, said party secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali.

“We will gather feedback from the ground on claims of electoral fraud. Reports will be lodged with the Election Commission if there is strong evidence to support the claims,” he added.

PAS saw its parliamentary seats reduced to 21 compared to 23 in 2008.

The party also failed to defend Kedah while it is still reeling from the shock defeats of deputy president Mohamad Sabu, vice-president Salahuddin Ayub and central committee member Datuk Husam Musa.

Mustafa said PAS accepted that “you win some and lose some”.

“The reality is that the government of the day is formed by the winning side. The election results are balanced' and we accept the people's verdict.

“We did well in defending Kelantan and Selangor, and we are happy to have made inroads in Barisan strongholds.

“We nearly managed to create a repeat of the PAS takeover in Terengganu in the 1999 elections,” he added.

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

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