SEMENYIH, March 2 — Semenyih returned to Barisan Nasional (BN) today after losing the Selangor seat in the 14th general election, as PAS stayed out and lent its support to the Opposition party in a tight race against the ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH).
Returning officer Datuk Mohd Sayuthi Bakar announced BN’s Zakaria Hanafi as Semenyih's new state assemblyman after the candidate obtained 19,780 votes with a majority of 1,914 votes.
His closest rival, PH’s Muhammad Aiman Zainali, came in second place after garnering 17,866 votes.
This is the first time PH lost a seat it won in the 14th general election after several by-elections; BN had retained Cameron Highlands in a by-election prior to the Semenyih race.
BN’s win came amid the highest voter turnout of all by-elections after the May 9 general election at 73.24 per cent.
The Opposition coalition’s victory was also a stunning reversal of PH’s majority of almost 9,000 votes in the 14th general election when it ran against BN, PAS, and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM).
Independent candidate Kuan Chee Heng, also known as Uncle Kentang, obtained 725 votes while PSM’s candidate Nik Aziz Afiq Abdul secured 847 votes. Both lost their deposits.
The official announcement was made at Dewan Seri Cempaka, Saujana Impian around 9.25pm.
Mohd Sayuthi also said 650 votes were rejected out of 39,218 ballots cast from 8am until 5.30pm earlier today.
The final voter turnout of 73.24 per cent marked almost 40,000 out of 54,503 registered voters in the constituency.
