ALOR SETAR: In what could be one of the biggest shocks in Kedah, the father-and-son team of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad and Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir both look to have been soundly beaten in the seats they were defending.
Dr Mahathir was trailing well behind the leader in Langkawi with little or no chance of catching up. At press time, the Pejuang chairman had just 2,249 votes to the 10,871 of Perikatan Nasional’s Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah.
Second-placed Barisan Nasional’s Armishah Siraj had 6,400 votes while Pakatan Harapan’s Zabidi Yahya was also ahead of Dr Mahathir with 2,662. Langkawi has 66,777 voters.
Dejected: Dr Mahathir arriving at the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya. — Bernama
In Jerlun, Mukhriz was also trailing in the seat he had won twice – first under Barisan in 2008 and again in 2018 on a Pakatan ticket.This time around, Mukhriz, representing Pejuang, the new party of which he is the president, had only 1,339 votes compared to the leader, Abdul Ghani Ahmad of Perikatan who had 13,887.
Barisan’s Othman Aziz was on 4,956 while Pakatan’s Mohamed Fadzil Mohd Ali also fared badly, managing only 2,514 votes. Jerlun has 67,601 voters.
In the hot seat of Alor Setar, Perikatan’s 41-year-old Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamuddin of PAS looked to be on his way to victory at press time.
A total of 70 candidates, including four Independents, contested the 14 parliamentary seats in Kedah.
Prior to GE15 being called, Pakatan held seven constituencies, Perikatan and GTA had three each while Barisan had two seats.
NOTE: Padang Serai will see a fresh by-election on Dec 7 following the death of Pakatan candidate M. Karupaiya three days before polling.
