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KUALA LUMPUR – Upcoming state elections will prove whether Perikatan Nasional (PN) is still riding a “green tide” following the formation of a unity government that includes rivals Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN).
DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang said the state elections in Penang, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Kelantan, Terengganu, and Kedah next year will show whether PN’s inroads in federal seats in the recently concluded 15th general election (GE15) were a fluke.
He said this was because election results in some seats show that the combined votes of PH and BN candidates had exceeded votes obtained by the PN candidates.
In a statement, Lim cited three parliamentary seats won by PN in Penang where this was the case.
The Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat is one, where the combined votes of PH candidate, Nurul Izzah Anwar (32,638 votes) and BN’s Datuk Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said (16,971), would add up to 49,337 votes – more than what the PN-PAS candidate Mohd Fawwaz Mat Jan received (37,638 votes).
Lim said one of the other federal constituencies was Kepala Batas, where BN’s Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican and Muda’s Muhammad Danial Abdul Majeed together had a total of 39,951 votes – more than PN-PAS candidate Siti Mastura Muhammad who secured 28,604 votes.
In the Tasek Gelugor parliamentary constituency, votes that went to BN and PH combined would total 35,237 – more than the winning vote of PN-Bersatu candidate Datuk Wan Saifulrudin Wan Jan who got 31,116 votes.
Lim added that the unity government under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim must promptly take effective measures to deal with political attacks and racial and religious rhetoric, besides ensuring a clean government.
“The future of the ‘green tide’ in GE15 will depend on whether effective measures are taken. The state elections in six states will be a crucial test whether the ‘green tide’ is invincible or a fluke shot,” Lim said.
PH-controlled Penang, Selangor, and Negri Sembilan – as well as PAS-ruled Kelantan, Terengganu, and Kedah – decided not to dissolve their assemblies to hold state elections concurrently with GE15 on November 19.
There have been calls for all six states to hold their elections simultaneously, for voters’ ease and to save costs. – The Vibes, December 10, 2022