KUALA LUMPUR (ANN/THE STRAITS TIMES) – A decisive win was secured in the Penang state assembly for Malaysia’s opposition coalition, Perikatan Nasional (PN), by-election on July 6, highlighting the increasing dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration and declining support from the Malay majority.
Mr Abidin Ismail, 56, from Parti Islam SeMalaysia, one of the members of the PN alliance, won the Sungai Bakap seat with 14,489 votes, or about 58.6 per cent of the valid votes.
His rival, Dr Joohari Ariffin from Pakatan Harapan (PH), received 10,222 votes (41.3 per cent) in the straight fight in the Malay-majority ward of 39,279 voters.
The total turnout was 63.4 per cent.
The by-election for the Sungai Bakap constituency in southern mainland Penang was called after incumbent PN assemblyman Nor Zamri Latiff – whom Mr Abidin was a special officer to – died on May 24 due to stomach inflammation.
The 58.6 per cent of the vote garnered by Mr Abidin indicates PN’s rising support following its narrow victory in the August 2023 state election, where Mr Nor Zamri secured 52.6 per cent of the vote with a slim majority of 1,563 ballots.
While Datuk Seri Anwar’s PH coalition failed to reclaim the seat, which it had held for three consecutive terms before the 2023 election, this will not have any impact on the 40-seat Penang state assembly where it controls a comfortable two-thirds majority.
Mr Abidin’s strong poll numbers suggest that concerns over the rising cost of living, exacerbated by recent cuts to diesel subsidies in June and increased utilities rates under the Anwar administration, had steered voters to support the opposition, said analysts.
The government’s attempt to ease cost-of-living concerns with a three-sen (one Singapore cent) reduction in the price of chicken eggs, announced by Mr Anwar on June 17, has done little to improve public sentiment.
Political analysts say PN’s victory was not unexpected as the voter sentiment in mainland Penang, especially among the Malay electorate, would not have shifted much within less than a year of the previous state election.
“Not many Chinese voters turned out, and voter sentiment still favours PN because various external issues like diesel subsidy targeting were effectively used by the opposition during the by-election campaign, while the government’s rebuttals and clarifications on these issues did not reach the grassroots voters effectively,” said University of Malaya sociopolitical analyst Awang Azman Pawi.
Penang PH chairman Chow Kon Yeow said the Chinese voter turnout, estimated at 49 per cent, was a significant 13 per cent drop from the 2023 state polls.
“As for the Indian community, there was no change and turnout remained the same,” he said.
In Sungai Bakap, 59.4 per cent of the voters are Malay, 22.5 per cent Chinese and 17.4 per cent Indian.
