Anwar says BN's majority a shock, Harapan to evaluate people's dissatisfaction

PKR president Anwar Ibrahim today said BN's overwhelming majority in the Tanjung Piai by-election came as a shock.

"The majority obtained by the opposition is a shock and also a message to the entire Pakatan Harapan leadership. We must learn from the by-election results.

"We need to work to instil confidence in the people towards Harapan's policies by fulfilling our promises," he said in a statement tonight.

Anwar (photo) said Harapan respects the results and congratulated BN's Wee Jeck Seng on his victory.

Wee won by a whopping 15,086-vote majority by garnering 25,466 votes against Karmaine's 10,380 votes.

Meanwhile, Johor Harapan, in a separate statement tonight, said the by-election result is a signal from voters which must be viewed seriously.

"Considering the defeat, Harapan needs to return to the drawing board to evaluate the party's and government's policy, approach and performance which has contributed to the people's dissatisfaction," it said in a statement today.

The statement was jointly signed by Johor Harapan chief Muhyiddin Yassin, Johor PKR chief Ibrahim Syed Noh, Johor Amanah chairperson Aminolhuda Hassan, Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong and Johor Bersatu chief Mazlan Bujang.

They also thanked Harapan's machinery for their hard work and commitment in the by-election.

In the by-election, Gerakan's Wendy Subramaniam came in third with 1,707 votes while Berjasa’s Badhrulhisham Abd Aziz bagged 850 votes in fourth place.

Independent candidates Ang Chuan Lock and Faridah Aryani Abd Ghaffar received 380 and 32 votes respectively.

There were 565 rejected votes, and the final turnout was 74.5 percent.

The Gerakan, Berjasa and independent candidates lost their deposits.

In the last general election, Wee lost the seat by only 524 votes to Bersatu's late Md Farid Md Rafik.

Md Farid, who was also a deputy minister, passed away from a heart attack in September, three weeks shy of his 43rd birthday.

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