36-0 win for PN if Kedah state polls held on Nov 19, says Sanusi

 

PAS election director Sanusi Md Nor said the Padang Serai election result was indicative of how well the party and PN were doing in Kedah.

KULIM: Going by its thumping success in the 15th general election, PAS said it would have made a “36-0” clean sweep of Kedah state seats if the state polls were held at the same time as parliamentary polls on Nov 19.

There are 36 seats in Kedah, with PAS holding 15 and Bersatu six, while the opposition Pakatan Harapan has 10. Barisan Nasional and Pejuang have two seats each.

PAS election director Sanusi Md Nor, who is also the state’s menteri besar, said the Padang Serai election was an indication of how well the party and Perikatan Nasional were doing in the state.

“We are contemplating an early March date or waiting for the assembly to be automatically dissolved in July.

“Nevertheless, going by the Padang Serai results, we would have had a 36-0 result going by the thumping majority we got,” he told reporters at the Padang Serai polls tallying centre late Wednesday.

PN’s Azman Nasruddin, who is also a Kedah executive councillor, won the Padang Serai seat with a 16,260-vote majority against Pakatan Harapan’s Sofee Razak, who obtained 35,377 votes.

Barisan Nasional’s C Sivaraj had 2,983 votes despite giving way to PH for the seat. Independent candidate Sreanandha Rao had 846 votes, followed by Pejuang’s Hamzah Abd Rahman (424), and Warisan’s Bakhri Hashim (149).

Sanusi, who is also Kedah PN chief, said the big win was a commentary on the present federal politics and cemented their recipe of success – which was hard work and not taking part in “retaliatory, vengeful politics”.

“If the majority was 1,000 to 2,000, it can be termed as a rejection. But with a majority in the tens of thousands, it’s a sign that voters are totally disgusted,” he said.

“Our opponents wouldn’t have come close even if they added all their votes up.”

Azman said his win was a vindication of sorts from all the name-calling of “traitor” and “frog” perpetuated by his Pakatan Harapan opponents. Azman was previously with PKR and moved to Bersatu in 2020.

“The results showed that Padang Serai rejected a traitor prime minister, who picked a deputy who was among the corrupt.” - FMT