By Syed Jaymal Zahiid
PERMATANG PASIR, Aug 25 – PAS’s Mohd Salleh Man has won the Permatang Pasir state vote here in Penang by a big majority of 4,551 votes. Official results show Mohd Salleh polled 9,618 votes while Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Rohaizat Othman received 5,067 votes.
The win for PAS was widely expected as the seat is within Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s Permatang Pauh parliamentary stronghold. Despite a massive onslaught by BN/Umno that was marked by heightened racial rhetoric, Rohaizat’s campaign had been a disaster from day one.
On nomination day, it was revealed that he was a disbarred lawyer because of misconduct involving a client’s funds amounting to RM161,000. The entire campaign was dominated by the scandal with BN on the defensive.
But PAS’s majority today, just short of last year’s 5,433 margin when the turnout was higher, suggest the status quo in terms of support for both PR and BN remains the same. Today’s turnout was 73.1 per cent compared to last year’s 82.57 per cent. PAS’s handsome win also appears to indicate that in PR’s own backyard, they are unbeatable. The win also comes despite Umno’s attempt to portray Anwar as a traitor to the Malays, while simultaneously playing the race and religion card. If Permatang Pasir is any gauge, Umno’s attacks have not gained much traction on the ground except among its own core supporters. The results of today’s by-election suggest a hardening of support on both sides of the political divide as PAS’s relentless attacks on Rohaizat’s candidacy also did not seem to have gained the party more votes. Today’s win marks the seventh win out of eight by-elections PR has contested in since the March 2008 general elections. Most of the contests had been in PR-held seats, while the one vote in which BN won was in Batang Ai in Sarawak, which the ruling coalition had held. Source: The Malaysian Insider 25/08/09
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