30 candidates lose deposits, including 23 from Bersatu, 1 from PH

 Associate wing chief R Sri Sanjeevan was the only Bersatu candidate to garner more than one-eighth of votes, while PH's Palong candidate also loses his deposit.

Bersatu information chief Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz (left) and Negeri Sembilan party chief Hanifah Abu Baker were among those who lost their deposits in the state polls yesterday.

PETALING JAYA:

Thirty candidates in the 16th Negeri Sembilan state election lost their deposits yesterday after failing to obtain at least an eighth of the total votes cast in their seats.

Twenty-three of Bersatu’s 24 candidates lost their deposits, including leaders like information chief Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz in Sikamat, and Negeri Sembilan Bersatu chief Hanifah Abu Baker in Labu, Bernama reported.

Pakatan Harapan’s Palong candidate, Zahin Zinal Abidin, also lost his deposit, becoming the only candidate from the coalition to fail to obtain an eighth of votes.

Zahin only obtained 1,495 votes as Barisan Nasional’s Mustapha Nagoor secured 15,197, giving the former executive councillor a 13,702-vote majority.

The sole Bersatu candidate who did not lose his deposit was the head of its associate wing, R Sri Sanjeevan, who emerged third-best in a four-cornered race in Jeram Padang.

BN’s Zaidy Abdul Kadir garnered 6,854 votes to retain the seat for a second term, ahead of PH’s G Manivannan 2,372 votes. Sanjeevan obtained 2,191 votes, and Parti Orang Asli Malaysia’s Dayana Dal 179.

The other candidates who lost their deposits were Dayana, Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s sole candidate, S Tinagaran, and four independent candidates. - FMT