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Bloodied BN wins Election 2013, keeps Perak

The Malaysian Insider team

KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 — Barisan Nasional has secured a simple majority to form the next government, according to the Election Commission, but took heavy blows in its so-called fortress of Johor.

The BN coalition also seized 19 seats from the Pakatan Rakyat, but lost five seats to the pact in the process.

The Malaysian Insider understands that BN is set to win 128 seats in total.

Perak will also return to BN rule, according to EC, joining the states of Terengganu, Negri Sembilan and Malacca.

Datuk Seri Najib Razak convincingly retained his Pekan federal seat as he led his BN coalition to victory in Election 2013.

The country’s sixth prime minister recaptured the seat with a 35,613-vote majority, polling 51,278 votes to PKR supreme council member Mohd Fariz Musa’s 15,665 votes.

In Election 2008, Najib won Pekan with a 26,464-vote majority, beating PKR’s Khairul Anuar Ahmad Zainudin when he polled 36,62 votes to the latter’s 9,798 votes.

More big hitters from Barisan Nasional have fallen in today’s results, with deputy ministers Datuk Puad Zarkashi and Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah joining three Cabinet ministers in defeat.

Puad lost in the Batu Pahat federal seat while Saifuddin was defeated in Temerloh.

Barisan Nasional was able to hold on to the state of Malacca, although caretaker chief minister Datuk Seri Ali Rustam failed to retain his Bukit Katil seat, losing by just 44 votes.

The coalition secured 17 seats from the 28-seat assembly for a simple majority.

Another Pakatan Rakyat party leader has won in today's polls, with PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang holding on to his Marang federal seat.

In Election 2008, Hadi won the federal seat with a 2,747-vote majority when he polled 33,435 votes to Umno's Datuk Dr Ahmad Ramzi Mohamad Zubir's 30,688 votes.

PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim successfully defended his Permatang Pauh federal seat today, while daughter Nurul Izzah survived a stern challenge in Lembah Pantai.

Barisan Nasional has lost three Cabinet ministers, with Tan Sri Bernard Dompok, Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha and Senator Datuk Raja Nong Chik Zainal all failing to win their contests.

Selangor will head back to Pakatan Rakyat rule, sources said today, with the pact expected to retain its 36 seats majority.

In Election 2008, PR won the country’s richest state when it swept 36 seats against Barisan Nasional’s 20 in the 56-seat assembly, along with 17 of the 22 parliamentary seats.

PAS’s Khalid Samad also successfully fended off BN’s Datuk Zulkifli Noordin in Shah Alam, with unofficial sources tipping him to win by over 10,000 votes. But the party lost Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad after he was defeated in Kuala Selangor.

In Kelantan, Independent candidate and Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali lost his Pasir Mas seat to challenger Nik Abduh Nik Aziz of PAS, failing to take advantage of indirect support from BN. The Islamist party also called victory in the state it has held since 1990.

DAP’s Lim Kit Siang has triumphed over Barisan Nasional’s Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman in Gelang Patah to give Pakatan Rakyat the victory in the headline showdown of Election 2013.

The DAP stalwart had moved from his Ipoh Timor seat to Gelang Patah, in an effort to take the fight to opponents Umno in the latter’s bastion state of Johor.

Barisan Nasional (BN) is tipped to win back the northern state of Kedah, after state PAS election director Datuk Yusuf Husin conceded that Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) chances of keeping the state were now slim.

Kedah fell to PAS in Election 2008, after it won 16 out of 36 state seats and six out of the 15 parliamentary seats there.

In Lembah Pantai, a tense situation is forming after riot police arrived at the official counting centre following protests over the vote count in which incumbent Nurul Izzah Anwar is reportedly leading by by a slim margin.

Earlier, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng called a landslide win for the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact in Penang, saying it has retained the state and secured two-thirds control over the state assembly.

The party also said it has snapped up all 11 state seats in ran for in Negri Sembilan as well as the two federal seats it contested.

Unofficial results earlier showed that DAP trounced Barisan Nasional (BN) in all 19 state seats it contested in Penang, giving it a commanding lead in its defence of the northern state. It also kept the Tanjong federal seat.

DAP also won the Bandar Kuching federal seat in Sarawak to take the maiden win for PR pact in Election 2013.

The party also successfully seized Lanang, Tampin and Sarikei from BN, making further inroads into the latter’s so-called “fixed deposit”. It also retained Seputeh — setting the record for the biggest win yet in Election 2013 — along with Kepong and Bukit Bintang.

PKR won the Miri federal seat in Sarawak to give the party its first victory of the polls.

Barisan Nasional (BN) earlier took the Mas Gading, Igan, Batang Lupar, Betong, Limbang, Hulu Rajang and Lawas federal seats in Sarawak, giving it the early lead.

The ruling coalition also won Kapit, Serian, Lubok Antu, Mukah, Baram, Kota Samarahan, Sibuti, Mabong, Selangau, Santubong and Kanowit — all in the east Malaysian state considered its vote bank.

The Federal Territory of Labuan went to BN as well. BN also kept Putrajaya, which had run the risk of falling to PAS’s Datuk Husam Musa’s strong campaign in Election 2013.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also declared an early victory for PR and warned against attempts to hijack the results, just as results began streaming in.

The prime minister-hopeful made the declaration on his Twitter account at 7pm this evening, just two hours after counting started at tallying centres nationwide.

In Johor, DAP is leading in the targeted federal seats of Gelang Patah and Kluang while PKR is ahead in Segamat. All three seats are BN strongholds in the coalition’s bastion state.

Earlier, PKR raised suspicion of electoral fraud following reports of the early vote counts in several key constituencies — including Lembah Pantai, Lumut and Teluk Kemang — which it alleged were overly low and “discomforting”.

In a statement here, the party’s communications bureau noted that these seats include high numbers of military voters who had cast their votes via advanced voting earlier this week on April 30.

“The initial results that we are receiving, according to our election machinery, from the counting of early votes have been very discomforting,” the party said in the statement.

It added that while the military vote for opposition parties have been traditionally low, the current results were “record lows”.

“The ballot boxes have been left in police stations under the care of the police with supervision by the Election Commission (EC),” the party noted.

“We would like to submit our suspicion of the result as they stand,” it added.

Early results streaming in from various sources have indicated that PKR is trailing in the Lembah Pantai seat with its candidate Nurul Izzah Anwar polling a significantly lower number of votes to her contender, BN’s Datuk Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin.

In Lumut, MCA secretary-general Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha is defending the federal seat in a close quarter fight with PKR’s Mohamad Imran Abd Hamid, a retired admiral who once commanded a fleet of 2,000 soldiers at the naval base there.

It is estimated that there are nearly 400,000 registered Malaysian voters working in Singapore. Just under 200,000 of them live in Johor alone while the rest vote in other states in Malaysia.

The EC held polling for advance voters from the military, police and their spouses on April 30 in 544 polling centres throughout Malaysia.