POLITICAL OBLIVION LOOMS FOR HADI & NAJIB: Azizah, the face of decent & new politics, the people's choice

Firstly, the coalition managed to maintain the same sterling performance we did in 2013. This means, the momentum for change is still strong despite the regime’s numerous attempts to crush the opposition with the mighty weight of government machinery. One day before the poll, I wrote that in the best case scenario, Kak Wan will repeat PKR’s performance in 2013 general election, receiving about 9,000 majority votes. The final tally from this by-election is 8,841 majority votes, 159 short of what I predicted as the best case scenario.

Pakatan Rakyat as a coalition is still highly relevant

Secondly, the win is a win for the partnership between the PKR, DAP and PAS. The win would not be possible without any of the component parties working together. And the win has proven that members as well as supporters of the component parties want Pakatan Rakyat to stay intact and will work hard to ensure Pakatan Rakyat stays intact.

People reject the old politics of race - momentum to defeat the regime is going strong

Finally, Rompin and Permatang Pauh represented clear and loud protest of all Malaysians against the Barisan Nasional regime especially its oppressive policies, such as the Goods and Services Tax, the jailing of Anwar Ibrahim and the culture of corruption and mismanagement within the federal government, notably, in the case of 1MDB.

At the beginning of the campaign, I wrote that this is a battle between the old politics of race and the new politics of good governance. The result of Permatang Pauh showed the victory of the latter. Therefore, they are small but unmistakable ripples of a coming Malaysians Tsunami which will wipe off Barisan Nasional in the 14th general election.

Result status quo from 2013 - return of chinese voters’ to BN is a myth

I would also like to dispel the claim that chinese voters are returning to Barisan Nasional. The fact is, in the chinese majority areas, the general trend shows Pakatan Rakyat managed to repeat its 2013 performance of securing above 80% of the votes. This is despite a drop of at least 20% in turnout rate, mostly of the younger generation voters who may not be able to return to vote as it is a working day. As such while BN retained votes from its traditional support base, PR’s younger generation voters could not make it to vote this time. Under this condition, to be able to maintain a high performance of above 80% comparable to 2013 is already a success.

Nevertheless, it must be admitted that Pakatan Rakyat suffered a drop in votes in one particular chinese-majority polling district, Sungai Lembu. There are two main reasons for this result. Firstly, the turnout rate was again, very low at 77% compared to the 2013 general election at 90%. Secondly, a day before balloting, there was an industrial accident in that area and the victim is still in critical condition. The matter was poorly handled by the local representative, causing discontent among the villagers. While we admit that Pakatan Rakyat needs to redouble our effort in this area, it is clear from statistics that the drop in votes in Sungai Lembu is a localised problem and is not reflective of the whole of Permatang Pauh’s chinese voting trend

In polling districts where indian voters are concentrated such as Taman Tun Hussein Oon, Jalan Sembilang dan Seberang Jaya 2, Pakatan Rakyat managed to maintain its 2013 performance of between 50-65% votes.

Overall, it is safe to say that across the board, result is status quo from the last general election, even proving critics wrong about the so-called PAS members’ boycott of Pakatan Rakyat candidate. Result for Pakatan Rakyat in the Permatang Pasir state seat, which is the stronghold of PAS, once again, is comparable to 2013.

Congratulatory and thanksgiving

We would like to congratulate the newly elected Member of Parliament for Permatang Pauh, Dato Seri Wan Azizah Ismail on this beautiful and meaning win and we wish her all success in her new role to serve the people of Permatang Pauh and Malaysia.

Lastly, on behalf of the DAP we would like to express our utmost gratitude to voters, supporters, campaign and election workers as well as members of the media who have worked tirelessly to ensure the success of this by-election. Thank you.

Steven Sim Chee Keong is MP for Bukit Mertajam