Landslide victory for BN with 4 times higher majority

Barisan Nasional’s Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah obtained 27,995 votes. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

Barisan Nasional scored a landslide victory in the Mahkota by-election in Johor today, with a majority of 20,648 votes or about four times what the party achieved at the state election in 2022.

Election Commission returning officer Wan Azurawati Wahid said BN’s candidate Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah received 27,995 votes, while Perikatan Nasional’s Haizan Jaafar obtained 7,347 votes.

The final voter turnout in the by-election was 53.84%, lower than the 57.34% recorded at the 2022 Johor state assembly elections.

The votes for BN were slightly less than the combined total of 28,056 cast in 2022 for the BN and Pakatan Harapan candidates, while the votes for PN were also slightly lower than in 2022.

BN and PH were rivals in the 2022 elections, but have since formed an alliance in the federal government coalition, and are allies in Johor.

In 2022, BN candidate Sharifah Azizah Syed Zain obtained 16,611 votes while Taqiuddin Cheman (PH) obtained 11,445. The combined total amounted to 28,056 votes. PN candidate Nor Lingan obtained 7,614 votes, while 555 votes were cast for Warisan candidate Mohd Noor Suleiman.

The by-election for the Johor state assembly seat was called following the death of Sharifah, 63, on Aug 2.

Today’s by-election is the 10th since the 2022 general election. The others were in Kuala Terengganu and Kemaman (Terengganu); Simpang Jeram and Pulai (Johor); Pelangai (Pahang); Jepak (Sarawak); Kuala Kubu Baharu (Selangor); Sungai Bakap (Penang); and Nenggiri (Kelantan). - FMT