KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 5 — Umno’s lower majority in the straight fight that it lost against PKR in the Sungai Kandis by-election reflects negatively on Umno and PAS presidents Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang respectively, Lim Kit Siang said today.
Harping on the lower majority yielded by Umno candidate Datuk Lokman Noor Adam compared to the party’s earlier performance in the 14th general election, Lim labelled the defeat as a failure on Najib’s part.
“Najib had unprecedentedly campaigned very hard in Sungai Kandis by-election hoping for a political miracle that can lead to a political turnaround of popular support for him,” the DAP stalwart said in a statement.
Lim also claimed Najib was hoping for a victory in the by-election to send a message of the latter still being a political powerhouse within Umno and Barisan Nasional.
“But Najib failed miserably on both counts, as Lokman could not get the 11,518 votes polled by the Umno candidate in the GE14, polling 1,933 votes less than the Umno/BN in the general elections,” he added.
Lim also took aim at PAS, claiming several PAS national leaders were as good as asking fellow party members and supporters to cast their vote for Lokman.
“But, Lokman could not even reach 30 per cent of the PAS votes (won) in the GE14,” he added.
Yesterday, PKR candidate Mohd Zawawi Ahmad Mughni was declared the official winner of the Sungai Kandis by-election that had a 49 per cent voter turnout.
In the Election Commission’s (EC) final tally of 25,282 votes, the local-born ustaz racked up 15,427 votes, besting his closest rival Lokman by a majority of 5,842 votes. Lokman got 9,585 votes.
During the May 9 general election, PKR’s Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei polled 23,998 votes, winning Sungai Kandis with a 12,480 majority.
