A grave situation indeed for PAS

Umno's increased majority despite a lower turnout than in GE13 indicates a loss of confidence in the Islamist party.

TUMPAT: Results for the Pengkalan Kubor by-election reveal that PAS has lost a sizeable number of its Kelantan supporters to Barisan Nasional (BN), specifically to Umno.

The voter turnout was lower than in last year’s general election, but Umno came away with a bigger majority. Its majority percentage was 15.2% yesterday compared with 9.1% in GE13.

When it comes to a by-election, the usual reason given for a low voter turnout is that registered voters living out of state often do not return to cast their ballots. However, the ripple effects of the recent Selangor MB crisis probably contributed to the significant blow to PAS.

PAS said today it had expected to lose in the by-election when it became clear that the turnout percentage had dropped.

The electoral roll for GE13 showed that there were 24,140 registered voters in Pengkalan Kubor, but the roll for the by-election showed 24,039 voters. The number who cast their ballots was 19,021 in GE13 as opposed to 17,558 voters in the by-election.

There was a reduction in the number of spoilt votes – from 344 in GE13 to 233 yesterday.

Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, who directed PAS’ operations for the by-election, noted that the turnout was 72.8% yesterday, whereas it was 78.8% in the general election.

“As we expected, it had an effect on the by-election,” Bernama quoted him as saying. “We accept the loss with an open heart.”

He said one reason for the lower turnout was that polling was held on a working day, ensuring that some voters working in faraway towns could not return to vote.

“We congratulate the BN candidate and hope he will carry out his responsibilities well,” said Tuan Ibrahim.

PAS candidate Wan Rosdi Wan Ibrahim received 7,326 votes and Umno’s Mat Razi Mat Ail received 9,961.

Independent candidate Izat Bukhary Ismail Bukhary lost his deposit but said he was not disappointed. He only obtained 38 votes.