KUALA LUMPUR – Perikatan Nasional (PN) has secured a landslide victory in the Kemaman by-election, according to unofficial results.
PAS candidate and Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar left his Barisan Nasional (BN) rival, Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor in the dust, with the former exceeding the coalition’s 30,000-vote majority target.
As of 8.30pm, Samsuri secured 62,215 votes against 26,940 votes for Affandi, a former army general, with an estimated voter turnout of 70% from the total 141,790 eligible voters.
With a decisive majority of 35,275, Samsuri has managed to retain PN’s hold on the Kemaman parliamentary constituency, after the Terengganu Election Court on September 26 annulled the victory of PAS’ Che Alias Hamid in the 15th general election.
The court ruled that elements of bribery had occurred during campaigning for the general election last year and declared the seat vacant.
Che Alias won with a 27,179 votes majority, defeating Terengganu Umno chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Said, who received 38,535 votes, Pakatan Harapan candidate Hasuni Sudin (8,340), and Pejuang candidate Rosli Ab Ghani (506).
The vote count at the Kemaman Municipal Council is ongoing, with official results expected to be announced later this evening.
Meanwhile, a livestream posted on Samsuri’s official Facebook account of the situation at Arena Square in Kemaman’s Chukai showed jubilant PAS supporters gathering to keep an eye on the vote-counting.
Cheers and applause resounded in the area once Samsuri surpassed the 30,000-vote majority target, with supporters chanting the “takbir” and lauding the new Kemaman MP as their prime ministerial candidate. – December 2, 2023