PAS retains Sungai Limau

November 5, 2013

PAS candidate Mohd Azam wins the by-election with a reduced majority.

 Written by Admin

YAN: (KEDAH)  PAS has retained the Sungai Limau state seat with a reduced majority of 1,084 votes.

Its candidate, Mohd Azam Abd Samat,37, garnered 12,069 votes against Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Dr Ahmad Sohaimi Lazim, 52, who polled 10,985 votes.

In the 13th general election in May, Azizan Abdul Razak of PAS retained the seat for the fifth term in a four-cornered fight with a 2,774-vote majority.

The result of the by-election, which was announced by returning officer Abdul Rashid Othman at the counting centre at the Lukman Al-Hakim Hall, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Yan here, saw PAS’ majority being halved by the BN.

Of the 23,249 votes cast today, 145 of them were spoilt votes.

With the victory, PAS maintains its stranglehold in the constituency since 1995 general election.

The votes obtained by Mohd Azam dropped by 1,225 or 9.2 per cent of the votes garnered by Azizan in the 13th General Election (PRU13), which was 13,294 votes.

BN candidate, Kedah MB not in hall

Voter turnout today also dropped by 1,100 voters or 4.5 per cent as compared to 24,349 voters in GE13.

Mohd Azam, when approached by reporters after the results were announced, said he was grateful to the party machinery and PAS’ partners in the opposition pact for their hard work in securing the victory for him.

He pledged to focus on the welfare of the constituents.

When the results were announced, Ahmad Sohaimi and Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir were not present in the hall.

Election Commission (EC) chairman Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said he was satisfied with the by-election process as there were no spoilt votes due to the use of indelible ink and no complaints from political parties and voters.

“The EC feels that the use of indelibe ink is suitable,” he said.

He said although the 85.5 per cent voter turnout was lower than 90 per cent as expected, it was still high by world standards.

Kedah PAS commissioner Mahfuz Omar said the reduced majority obtained by PAS did not reflect the BN moral victory.

He claimed that PAS lost more than 1,000 of 3,666 votes from outstation voters who did not return home to vote.

“The EC should not hold an election on a working day,” he said, adding that anyway, he was thankful for the victory.

Bernama