TELUK INTAN, June 1 — Two fruitless terms under Pakatan Rakyat MPs drove Teluk Intan voters to put their trust back with Barisan Nasional (BN), coalition leaders said after the victory of its candidate Datuk Mah Siew Keong last night.
According to them, voters here realised that only BN could deliver on its promises to protect the interests of the locals and bring development into the Perak town.
“Perhaps the residents of this area have woken up, that what they did before had not brought any benefit to them,” BN secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor told reporters here.
“They want for them to be looked after. They want a party that can champion them, and only BN is able to do that.”
Tengku Adnan said that was the reason for the increased support among the Chinese and Indian community, and even the young voters.
Datuk Mah Siew Keong regained Teluk Intan for BN yesterday, defeating rookie Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud from DAP in a closely-fought by-election.
Mah won by a razor 238 ballots, compared to the 7,313-vote majority when DAP’s late Seah Leong Peng defeated him in the general election last year.
The official count gave Mah 20,157 votes to Dyana’s 19,919.
Tengku Adnan said the win showed that voters still trust Mah, who had served as Teluk Intan MP for two terms before losing in the last two general elections to two different DAP candidates.
Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abd Jalil said it was not easy to overturn the previous 7,313-vote deficit into a 238 surplus.
“What they want is a party that continues unity and development,” she said, suggesting the reason for the swing.
MCA deputy president Datuk Wee Ka Siong noted that there were significant changes in support among Chinese-majority areas, especially those taken care of by MCA.
Wee said that in some areas, they had increased support from 29 per cent previously to 53 per cent, and from 18 per cent to over 30 per cent.
“The people are very objective. They are very scientific as well, and this is what they want. They want a local to represent them,” he told reporters.
In his manifesto for the by-election, Mah had pledged to build a university for the town and get Unesco heritage listing for the Teluk Intan Leaning Tower.
“We have to be humble. There are a lot of things we promised, and we have to deliver,” conceded Wee.
With the win, Mah will be appointed to the Cabinet, following a pledge by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak just days before the polls.
In its campaign, BN had also claimed that Teluk Intan residents can expect easier access to development funds as Mah, a Gerakan president, has a direct link with both the state and federal governments.
