BN has lost the plot
PAS win signals resurgence for Pakatan Rakyat
It is still unclear just how many of the Chinese Malaysian votes went to PAS, but the fall of Bandar is a telling sign as it has the largest concentration of Chinese Malaysians voters in Kuala Terengganu.
By Deborah Loh, The Nut Graph
PAS has wrested the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat from Barisan Nasional (BN) by a 2,631-vote margin, with a greater swing in Malay Malaysian votes to the Islamist party.
PAS also swept the parliamentary votes in all four state constituencies in KT, winning in the Bandar seat by more than a 100-vote majority, according to early estimates. The seat, which is roughly 60% Malay Malaysian and 40% Chinese Malaysian, is the only one presently held by MCA in the state assembly.
The by-election result will be seen as a signal to the ruling BN that its lead party, Umno, has lost the trust of Malay Malaysians and has failed to regain the confidence of other Malaysians. In the 2008 election, PAS lost to the BN by 628 votes.
The result will be cited as evidence that the opposition's wave of success in the March 2008 general election on the west coast was not accidental, a view that Umno's hardcore have refused to accept.
PAS candidate Abdul Wahid Endut polled 32,883 votes against the BN's Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh's 30,252. Independent contender Azharudin Mamat@Adam obtained 193 votes and lost his deposit.
The results were announced at 9.30pm by the Election Commission at the Kuala Terengganu indoor stadium, which was used as the vote-tallying centre. Shouts of "Allahu-akhbar!" erupted from a mammoth crowd of PAS supporters gathered outside the stadium, where the announcement was fed through loudspeakers.
