Green wave fails to penetrate Johor - Analyst

SHAH ALAM - The cooperation of Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) was accepted by voters in the Pulai Parliament and in the Simpang Jeram State Legislative Assembly when they retained both seats in the by-elections on Saturday.

In the results announced last night for the Pulai Parliamentary by-election, Amanah Johor vice chairman representing PH-BN Suhaizan Kaiat obtained 48,283 votes defeating his opponent with a majority of 18,641 votes.

Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate Zulkilfi Jaafar got 28,642 votes while independent candidate Samsudin Mohamad Fauzi received 528 votes.

The official results were announced by the Election Commission (EC) returning officer for the Pulai Parliament P161 by-election, Miswan Yunus.

PH also defended the Simpang Jeram state seat as PH candidate Nazri Abdul Rahman obtained 13,844 votes defeating PN candidate Dr Mohd Mazri Yahya (10,330) with a majority of 3,514 votes.

Independent candidate, S. Jeganathan obtained 311 votes. A total of 74 votes were rejected and 12 ballot papers were not returned.

Meanwhile, due to unfavorable weather conditions, the number of voters who fulfilled their responsibilities for Pulai Parliament and Simpang Jeram State Assembly was relatively low.

Election Commission (EC) Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh said that as of 5pm, a total of 45 per cent of voters were recorded fulfilling their responsibilities for the Pulai Parliament, while in the Simpang Jeram state assembly, it was 59 per cent.

He said that the voting process in the two by-elections went smoothly and under control without any unwanted incidents.

Checks on the polling day found that, although it rained heavily in several areas in Pulai Parliament, including the SMK Taman Bukit Indah polling station, voters still went out to carry out their responsibilities.

A total of 205,810 registered voters are eligible to fulfil their responsibilities for the Pulai Parliamentary by-election and the Simpang Jeram State Assembly on Saturday, with 165,509 voters voting for the Pulai Parliament, while the Simpang Jeram State Assembly involved 40,301 voters.

There were 47 polling stations involving 294 channels in Pulai Parliament, while Simpang Jeram State Assembly had 14 polling stations with 68 channels.

Commenting on PH-BN's victory, political analyst from Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin Dr Hussain Yusri Zawawi said, with the results, it showed that the green wave had been blocked from conquering the south.

It was also driven by the position of the state which was known to be a stronghold of Umno and the fact that most people were satisfied with the leadership sentiments of the late Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub when he led the Parliament and State Assembly.

"Clearly, we witnessed that Allahyarham (Salahuddin) was so concerned about the problems of the people by giving attention and solutions to several issues.

"He made many efforts in various development, infrastructure and social projects that benefited the residents.

"The record of clean leadership and the former Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) who is seen to be very alert to the issues of hardship and pressure in people's lives with various efforts at the ministry level, one of which is the issue of rahmah," he said.

Hussain said that the failure of PN to penetrate the state also proved that various issues raised or the sentiments played out during the by-election campaign did not affect the people of Johor.