KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 – Sixteen by-elections were held after the general election in 2008, six for parliamentary seats and 10 for state seats. Of these by-elections, the Barisan Nasional (BN) and the opposition parties won eight seats each. The BN won two parliamentary seats and six state seats while the opposition won four parliamentary seats and four state seats.
Although the opposition seemed to have been favoured by the people in the beginning, there was a change in the trend in the last five by-elections when the BN registered victories consecutively in the contests for the Bagan Pinang, Galas, Tenang, Merlimau and Kerdau seats.
Thirteen of the by-elections had to be held following the deaths of the incumbents and the remaining three due to the resignations of the elected representatives. The first of the by-elections was held for the Permatang Pauh parliamentary
seat in Penang on Aug 26, 2008, after Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president Datin Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail resigned as the MP to enable her husband, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the advisor to the party, to contest.
Anwar won with a majority of 15,671 votes, beating Arif Shah Omar Shah of the BN and an independent candidate, Hanafi Mamat. The by-elections for the Bukit Selambau state seat and the Penanti state seat were held on April 7, 2010, and Mei 31, 2009, respectively, following the resignations of the PKR elected representatives V. Arumugam and Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin.
The BN decided not to contest the Penanti state by-election, which was won by Mansor Othman of the PKR who defeated two independent candidates, Aminah Abdullah and Nai Khan Ari. Thirteen independent candidates contested the Bukit Selambau seat, all of them together garnering 1,326 votes. The seat was won by S. Manikumar of the PKR with a majority of 2,405 votes.
Following is the chronology of the by-elections:
Parliamentary by-elections:
Aug 26, 2008 – PERMATANG PAUH (Penang): Opposition Leader and PKR advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim garners a majority of 15,671 votes to defeat Hanafi Mamat (Independent) and Arif Shah Omar Shah (BN). The seat fell vacant following the resignation of the incumbent MP and PKR president Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is Anwar’s wife.
Jan 17, 2009 – KUALA TERENGGANU (Terengganu): Mohd Abdul Wahid Endut (PAS) obtains a 2,631-vote majority to defeat Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh (BN) and Azharudin Mamat (Independent). The seat fell vacant following the death of incumbent Datuk Razali Ismail of the BN.
April 7, 2009 – BUKIT GANTANG (Perak): Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin (PAS) garners a 2,789-vote majority to defeat Ismail Saffian (BN) and Kamarul Ramizu Idris (Independent). The seat fell vacant following the death of incumbent
Roslan Shahrum of PAS.
April 25, 2010 – HULU SELANGOR (Selangor): P. Kamalanathan (BN) wins by a 1,725-vote majority, defeating Datuk Zaid Ibrahim (PKR). The seat fell vacant following the death of incumbent Datuk Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad of PKR.
May 16, 2010 – SIBU (Sarawak): Wong Ho Leng (DAP) wins by a 298-vote majority, defeating Robert Lau Hui Yew (BN) and Narawi Haron (Independent). The seat fell vacant following the death of incumbent Datuk Robert Lau Hoi Chew of
the BN.
Nov 4, 2010 – BATU SAPI (Sabah): Tsen Thai Lin (BN) garners a 6,359-vote majority to Ansari Abdullah (PKR) and Datuk Yong Teck Lee (SAPP). The seat fell vacant following the death of incumbent Datuk Chong Ket Wah of the BN.
State by-elections:
May 31, 2009 – PENANTI (Penang): Mansor Othman (PKR) garners a 5,558-vote majority to defeat Aminah Abdullah (Independent) and Nai Khan Ari (Independent). The seat fell vacant following the resignation of incumbent Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin of PKR.
July 14, 2009 – MANEK URAI (Kelantan): Mohd Fauzi Abdullah (PAS) wins by a 65-vote majority to defeat Tuan Aziz Tuan Mat (BN). The seat fell vacant following the death of incumbent Ismail Yaacob of PAS.
Aug 25, 2009 – PERMATANG PASIR (Penang): Mohd Salleh Man (PAS) wins with a 4,551-vote majority to defeat Rohaizat Othman (BN). The seat fell vacant following the death of incumbent Datuk Mohd Hamdan Abd Rahman of PAS.
Oct 11, 2009 – BAGAN PINANG (Negeri Sembilan): Tan Sri Isa Samad wins by a 5,435-vote majority to defeat Zulkefly Mohamad Omar (PAS). The seat fell vacant following the death of incumbent Azman Mohammad Noor of BN.
April 7, 2010 – BUKIT SELAMBAU (Kedah): S. Manikumar (PKR) wins by a majority of 2,405 votes to defeat 14 other candidates. The seat fell vacant following the resignation of incumbent V. Arumugam (Independent).
April 7, 2010 – BATANG AI (Sarawak): Malcom Mussen Lamoh (BN) wins by a majority of 1,854 votes to defeat Jawah Jerang (PKR). The seat fell vacant following the death of incumbent Datuk Dublin Unting anak Ingkot of BN.
Nov 4, 2010 – GALAS (Kelantan): Ab Aziz Yusoff (BN) wins by a majority of 1,190 votes to defeat Dr Zulkefli Mohamed (PAS). The seat fell vacant following the death of incumbent Chek Hashim Sulaima of PAS.
Jan 30, 2011 – TENANG (Johor): Mohd Azahar Ibrahim (BN) wins by a 3,707-vote majority to defeat Normala Sudirman (PAS). The seat fell vacant following the death of Datuk Sulaiman Taha of BN.
March 6, 2011 – MERLIMAU (Melaka): Roslan Ahmad (BN) garners a 3,643-vote majority to defeat Yuhaizad Abdullah (PAS). The seat fell vacant following the death of incumbent Datuk Mohamad Hidhir Abu Hasan of BN.
March 6, 2011 – KERDAU (Pahang): Syed Ibrahim Syed Ahmad (BN) garners 2,724-vote majority to defeat Hassanuddin Salim (PAS). The seat fell vacant following the death of incumbent Zaharuddin Abu Kassim of BN.
BERNAMA
