PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail wins Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat after incumbent Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was disqualified due to his sodomy conviction. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, May 7, 2015.PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail was announced winner of the Permatang Pauh by-election at 10.20pm tonight, sealing her return to the parliamentary seat for the fourth time.
She garnered 30,316 votes, a majority of 8,841 ballots ahead of Barisan Nasional newcomer Suhaimi Sabudin, who got 21,475 votes.
Independent candidate Salleh Ishak won 367 votes and Parti Rakyat Malaysia candidate Azman Shah 101 votes. There were 843 spoilt votes.
A total of 71,890 people are eligible to vote in the parliamentary seat, but voter turnout was 53,198 or 74%, according to the Election Commission (EC).
In the 13th general election two years ago, voter turnout for this seat was 88.3%.
PKR is ahead in all three state seats in the parliamentary constituency, including PAS stronghold Permatang Pasir. The other two state seats are Seberang Jaya and Penanti.
In the 2013 general election, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim retained the seat with 37,090 or 58.56% of the total 63,332 votes cast, by 11,721 votes.
Party supporters cheered and shouted "reformasi" as the EC returning officer announced Dr Wan Azizah the winner.
There was no sign of Suhaimi, the BN candidate, or other ruling coalition leaders in the hall, but Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak tweeted a message to the BN by-election machinery.
"Thank you for everyone's effort in Permatang Pauh @barisannasional will increase out efforts to succeed in the coming elections," Najib, who is the BN chairman, tweeted.
Independent candidate, Salleh and PRM's Azman were also nowhere to be seen.
Other Pakatan Rakyat leaders present are PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli and vice-president Chua Tian Chang, PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.
The seat has never been won by the BN ruling coalition since 1999 after it sacked Dr Wan Azizah's husband, PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, from his position as deputy prime minister in 1998.
Anwar had been MP of the constituency for four terms from 1982 to 1998.
After his conviction and jailing for sodomy and corruption, Dr Wan Azizah held the fort for him for three terms until his return to politics in August 2008. She also led PKR during this time and remains its president.
Anwar won the seat again in the 2013 polls but was disqualified as MP in February this year after the Federal Court upheld a second sodomy conviction, which the opposition has claimed was a political conspiracy to end his career.
Dr Wan Azizah was always the heavyweight in the campaign to retain the seat.
This time, Pakatan Rakyat wins with a lower majority due to a lower voter turnout of 74%, compared to the turnout of 88.3% in the 2013 national polls.
With a lower turnout, PKR essentially maintains its vote share, at about 57% of all votes cast this time.
The opposition pact had been hoping for a bigger majority in this by-election to send a message to Putrajaya that people are rejecting the goods and services tax.
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