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Gelang Patah gamble pays off for Kit Siang

BY IDA LIM AND MOHD FARHAN DARWIS

SKUDAI, May 5 — DAP’s Lim Kit Siang blazed to a thumping victory in Gelang Patah tonight, ending the lengthy 27-year political career of Johor’s four-term mentri besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman in what was billed as the main event of Election 2013

The 72-year-old veteran Lim trounced his Umno rival in the Barisan Nasional (BN) stronghold when he polled 54, 284 votes against the latter's 39,522, winning the seat with a 14,762 vote-majority despite entering into the intense battle as the underdog.

This is not the first time that Lim has taken down a state chief minister. In 1990, Lim unseated former Penang chief minister, the late Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu, in the contest for Padang Kota.

Lim was the incumbent for the Ipoh Timor parliamentary seat in Perak but moved to Gelang Patah as a strategic move by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to launch its campaign for Putrajaya from Umno’s birthplace and southern bastion of Johor.

The DAP stalwart has been pushing for a “Malaysian dream” of a better country for citizens of all races, while Abdul Ghani had urged voters to help him keep the “Johor Way” of moderation by voting him in as an “old friend”.

Gelang Patah, Johor’s federal constituency with the highest number of registered voters, is largely dominated by the Chinese community at 52 per cent, while the Malay and Indian communities take up 34 per cent and 12 per cent respectively.

Voter turnout for the Gelang Patah polls stood at a whopping 89.10 per cent.

MCA’s Tan Ah Eng had defeated PKR candidates twice in the seat with a 31,666 vote-majority and a smaller 8,851 vote-majority in 2004 and 2008.