2009 Penanti by-election
An election to fill the state assembly seat for Penanti was held on 31 May 2009. Penanti has 15,384 registered voters, with 73% of them Malays, 24% Chinese, 2% Indians and 0.7% of other communities.[1] Dr Mansor Othman of the People's Justice Party (PKR) party won the election.
Election background
[edit]Penang Deputy Chief Minister and state assemblyperson Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin quit the state assembly seat of Penanti, Penang regarding allegations over his non-performance in public office and corruption allegations.[2] Fairus was however cleared of the alleged corruption links with quarry operations in the state by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).[3]
According to the mainstream media, Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim decided to force a by-election to allow his former political secretary Dr Mansor Othman to contest, win and automatically become Penang deputy Chief Minister.[4] The Election Commission has set the nominations day for 23 May and polling day on 31 May for the Penanti state by-election in Penang.[5]
Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak declared an election would be a waste of economic resources.[6] As a result, he conclude that the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) would not contest the election.[7] It would be the first election uncontested by the ruling coalition since independence.[8] MCA supported foregoing the by-election and awarding the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) party coalition victory, as a means to reduce political tensions.[9]
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad urged Barisan Nasional to contest the by-election.,[10] but Barisan Nasional supreme council announced on 18 May 2009 that the party would not contest the Penanti state assembly seat in Penang.
Nominations
[edit]Penang PKR deputy chief Mansor Othman, a 54-year-old party veteran, was named the party's candidate.[11] Three candidates ran as independents: former Penang PKR Wanita chief Aminah Abdullah, company manager Nai-Khan Ari and motivational expert Kamarul Ramizu Idris.[12]
By-election results
[edit]PKR's Dr Mansor Othman won 6,052 of the 7,100 votes cast in the Penanti by-election on 31 May 2009. Independents Nai Khan Ari, Aminah Abdullah and Kamarul Ramizu Idris obtained 494, 392 and 56 votes respectively. The polling ended with a low turnout of 46.1% or 7,100 voters despite fair weather.[13][14]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PKR | Mansor Othman | 6,052 | 86.53 | |||
| Independent | Nai Khan Ari Nai Keow | 494 | 7.06 | |||
| Independent | Aminah Abdullah | 392 | 5.60 | |||
| Independent | Kamarul Ramizu Idris | 56 | 0.80 | |||
| Total valid votes | 6,994 | 100.00 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 107 | |||||
| Unreturned ballots | 1 | |||||
| Turnout | 7,102 | 46.16 | ||||
| Registered electors | 15,384 | |||||
| Majority | 5,558 | |||||
| PKR hold | Swing | |||||
Source(s)
"Pilihan Raya Kecil N.12 Penanti". Election Commission of Malaysia. Archived from the original on 2018-09-19. Retrieved 2018-09-19. | ||||||
References
[edit]- ^ "Penanti by-election likely to be 4-cornered fight". TheStar Online. 22 April 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
- ^ "Mohammad Fairus quits Penanti seat". The Nut Graph. 16 April 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2009. [dead link]
- ^ "MACC clears Fairus of corruption charges". Sun2Surf. 23 April 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "BN's dilemma: To fight or not to fight". TheStar Online. 21 April 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2009.
- ^ "Penanti vote is on". Malaysian Insider. 27 April 2009. Archived from the original on 28 April 2009. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
- ^ "Najib must walk the talk on '1 Malaysia' – Pauline Ng". The Malaysian Insider. 20 April 2009. Archived from the original on 20 April 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
- ^ "Najib: BN may not contest Penanti by-election". The New Straits Times. 18 April 2009. Archived from the original on April 19, 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
- ^ "Najib: BN may skip Penanti". Malaysian Insider. 18 April 2009. Archived from the original on 19 April 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
- ^ "MCA: It's democratic to skip Penanti". Malaysian Insider. 19 April 2009. Archived from the original on 21 April 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
- ^ "Dr M says BN must contest Penanti by-election". Malaysian Insider. 22 April 2009. Archived from the original on 22 April 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
- ^ "Mansor Othman is PKR candidate for Penanti by-election". Sun2Surf. 28 April 2009. Retrieved 28 April 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Penanti by-election". TheStar Online. 23 May 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
- ^ "Penanti: Dr Mansor wins with 6,052 votes out of 7,100". TheStar Online. 31 May 2009. Archived from the original on 1 June 2009. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
- ^ "Penanti:Mansor wins, heads for DCM office". Malaysian Insider. 31 May 2009. Archived from the original on 2 June 2009. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
