'THIS IS NOT THE END OF DYANA SOFYA'! Fast-rising DAP star loses to Mah by 238 votes

UPDATE 5 Fast-rising DAP star Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud put up the gutsiest fight any Malaysian could ask of their political representatives but in the end she lost to low voter turnout and the massive machinery of the ruling BN coalition.

"Sorry to hear that @dyanasmd lost by tiny margin, nonetheless she put up a good fight. Still she has a great potential, keep it up!" PKR MP for Batu Tian Chua said on Twitter.

"Pretty devastated by this loss but I'm sure this is not the last we'll see of @dyanasmd! Well done for putting up a good fight!" tweeted MP for serdang Ong Kian Ming.

You will still hear her ROAR!

And devastated she may be, but the plucky Dyana is not giving up on politics.

“This is not the end of Dyana Sofya,” she said to supporters and the media outside the DAP camp.

The newbie scored 19,919 votes versus Gerakan president Mah Siew Keong's 20,157. The difference between them a mere 238 votes, with 550 votes spoilt.

Dyana, whose mother is an Umno member, stressed that her struggle was not to win an MP seat but to build a better Malaysia.

"We need to put a stop to racial politics. I am not only contesting against Mah (Siew Keong), but the whole machinery (of BN). Mah only won by (about) 200 votes," she said.

Cushy Cabinet post after 'dirtiest-ever' election

Mah has claimed victory, surrounded by jubilant supporters, while crest-fallen DAP conceded loss.

The Gerakan chief is now en-route to a Cabinet post as promised by Prime Minister Najib Razak. Accidental or not, his victory in what both sides have declared to be the 'dirtiest-ever poll' is bound to be held up by the BN as a 'sure sign' of returning non-Malay support.

“The big victor here is not Mah Siew Keong; it’s Umno and its race and ‘samseng’ politics,” DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said.

Brave bid for a better Malaysia

“Our majority in Chinese areas is not big enough,” a Perak DAP source told The Malay Mail Online.

DAP gambled on fielding Dyana Sofya, a 26-year-old Malay woman, in the Chinese majority constituency where the Umno-BN has solid 'fixed deposit' pools of votes amongst the Malays resident there.

Many of the Teluk Intan constituents work outstation including in Singapore and were unable to come home to vote, allowing Mah to score an 'upset'.

A total of 66.5% or 39,850 of the 59,927 ordinary voters turned up to vote when polling closed at 35 polling centres for the Teluk Intan Parliamentary by-election at 5pm this evening.

This is below the DAP target of 70%, which it had hoped could propel Dyana, who is also the political secretary to DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, safely past the winning post.

In 2013, turnout at Teluk Intan was a record 80.4%. DAP had then won with a majority of 7,313 or 15 percent of total votes.

Puzzling

Meanwhile, the Election Commission expressed bewilderment at the turnout. It had expected 70%.

According to EC chairman Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof, the number was also the second lowest for by-elections since the 2013 general election, behind only Bukit Gelugor.

“The weather was very good today. The traffic was not that bad. In terms of security, (it) was also fine. There is no reason for voters to not vote. We really do not know why. We have to study in detail," ” Abdul Aziz told a press conference. - Malaysia Chronicle

Teluk Intan by-election

Unofficial results at 7.56pm

DAP - 19,919

BN - 20,157

BN Majority - 238

Spoilt votes - 550