Status-Quo Maintained In Three By-Elections

KUALA LUMPUR, April 7 (Bernama) -- Status quo is maintained in three by-elections today, with Barisan Nasional (BN) and opposition PAS and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) maintaining the respective seats they won in the March 2008 general election.

The ruling BN won the Batang Ai state constituency in Sarawak after its candidate Malcom Mussen Lamoh beat PKR's Jawah Gerang, and retained the Sarawak interior seat for the BN in convincing fashion.

The BN man polled 3,907 votes against Jawah's 2,053 in the battle for the Iban heartland. There were 59 spoilt votes.

Malcom's 1,854-vote majority is more than double the 806-vote margin recorded by BN's Datuk Dublin Unting Inkot in last year's general election. Unting died on Feb 24 this year, paving way for the by-election.

Analysts said the victory proved that it was difficult for Peninsular Malaysia-based opposition parties to make inroads in east Malaysia.

The result, they said, reinforced the fact that voters in the interior of Sarawak are still with the BN and are unlikely to abandon their allegiance in the near future.

"This is because the BN delivers on the promise of development. So why change when you are enjoying the benefit?" said a BN component party.

In the peninsula, opposition parties retained their respective Bukit Selambau state and Bukit Gantang parliamentary seats.

In Bukit Selambau in Kedah, PKR's S. Manikumar beat BN's Datuk S. Ganeson in the by-election which would go down in the record book for having the most number of candidates -- 15 altogether, including 13 independents.

Manikumar polled 12,632 votes as opposed to Ganesan's 10,229 votes to win the seat by a 2,403-vote majority.

There is a slight increase in the majority for the seat in this by-election, compared to the 2,362-vote majority obtained by PKR candidate V. Arumugam in the 2008 general election.

The seat fell vacant after Arumugam resigned on Feb 8, 2009, citing personal problem as among the reasons.

For the Bukit Gantang parliamentary seat in Perak, PAS candidate Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, the former Menteri Besar, defeated BN's Ismail Saffian.

Nizar polled 21,860 votes against Ismail's 19,071 votes.

The PAS leader obtained a 2,789-vote majority, much higher than the 1,566-vote majority obtained by the party's candidate, Roslan Shaharum, in the 2008 general election.

Roslan died on Feb 9, 2009 due to a heart complication, paving the way for the by-election.

Political analysts and observers said the results in the three by-elections showed two sides of the political situation in the country -- one being the fact that the BN would still need time to win back the hearts of minds of the people in the two northern states in the aftermath of the 12th general election.

"The new leadership now has to prove that it is sincere and has the welfare of the people at heart," said a component party leader, who declined to be named.

Observers also pointed out that the appearance of former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in Bukit Selambau and Bukit Gantang a day before the polling might have come a little too late.

The second aspect, the said, was that opposition parties wanting badly to make a headway in Sarawak failed miserably despite vigorous canvassing by PKR advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Here, observers said the opposition parties did not have a strategy that was suited to the Land of the Hornbills as they merely relied on the same strategies used in the peninsula.