Kuala Lumpur: Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional managed to form the majority in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Penang when the state elections results were announced at nearly midnight on Saturday.
Rival Perikatan Nasional-PAS retained the Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu State Governments.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim congratulated both his Unity Government and rival Perikatan Nasional for maintaining the status quo after the results.
In a press conference, Anwar said he also expressed his gratitude to the Election Commission (EC) Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh for a smooth voting process.
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“On behalf of the unity government, I thank the people for their support and for maintaining our strength in the three states. This is a result of the camaraderie among the parties in our coalition, including our allies in Sabah and Sarawak. I also congratulate the opposition for their wins in the three other states. I would like to assure that the Federal Government will remain strong. We will continue to work hard and continue to serve,” said Anwar.
In Negeri Sembilan, Pakatan Harapan (17 seats) and Barisan Nasional (14 seats) collectively won 31 of the 36 state seats there, with Perikatan Nasional only winning the remaining five seats.
The Unity Government Presidential Council will decide on the candidates for Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar but the final decision lies with the Negri Ruler, says Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
“The Negri Sembilan Yang di-Pertuan Besar will decide on the most suitable candidate for the post,” said the BN Deputy Chairman. Mohamad also said a victory for Pakatan Harapan and Barisan was expected in Negri.
“It is within our expectations that a comfortable majority is maintained in Negri,” he said.
Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun is the caretaker Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar.
Pakatan Harapan won 29 of 56 seats in Selangor with caretaker Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amiruddin winning in Sungai Tua for the fourth time.
Perikatan and Pakatan retained Kedah and Penang respectively with over 50pc of votes. Based on Election Commission announcement, Perikatan Nasional (PN) won 19 seats out of 36 seats in Kedah.
While Pakatan Harapan won 21 seats out of 40 seats in Penang with over 50 per cent of the majority vote.
In GEORGE TOWN, the two-thirds majority needed to form the Penang State Government was obtained, said caretaker Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.
He said the unity partnership has 29 seats in the state polls.
He said while the Election Commission had yet to announce the results of some seats, enough seats were been won to form the State Government at press time.
Chow said he would be sworn in as the Chief Minister on Sunday (Aug 13), adding that he hoped to lead the State Government well for the next five years.
“The future is still filled with challenges and we will work hard, analyse and do better, working on all our weaknesses,” he said.
PAS in Kelantan lost only two of 45 seats in the Aug 12 state election. Based on official results by Election Commission, PAS was only defeated in the Kota Lama and Galas constituencies.
Caretaker Kelantan menteri besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob emerged victorious in Pasir Pekan, winning 12,811 more votes than his competitor from PH, Zamakh Sari Him.
Meanwhile, his deputy, Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah won his Panchor state seat with a huge majority of 10,686 votes, polling a total of 18,700 ahead of PH's Syed Mohd Alidustur Syed Mohd Zain.
Perikatan Nasional retained power in Kedah. This includes the victory of outgoing Menteri Besar Sanusi Nor in Jeneri, and former Malaysian international footballer Baddrol Bakhtiar in Gurun.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Sanusi retained his Jeneri seat.
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