PN support remains same despite heavy loss, says Azmin

Given the slightly lower voter turnout, the PN election director says the number of votes for its candidate was about the same as in 2022.

(FMT) – Perikatan Nasional’s support in the Mahkota constituency in Johor remains intact despite the coalition’s heavy loss to Barisan Nasional tonight, says PN election director Azmin Ali.

Azmin said the 7,347 votes obtained by Bersatu’s Haizan Jaafar was not far off from the 7,614 garnered by PN candidate Nor Lingan in the 2022 Johor polls. The overall voter turnout of 57.34% in the 2022 state election was also slightly higher than the 53.84% recorded today.

“From early on we’ve said that Mahkota and Kluang are Pakatan Harapan-BN areas, but we still did our best,” Sinar Harian quoted Azmin as saying.

The Bersatu Supreme Council member said PN would not be deterred by the outcome of the Mahkota by-election and would continue to woo voters in preparation for the next general election.

BN’s Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah stormed to a landslide victory with a majority of 20,648 votes, about four times what the party achieved at the 2022 state assembly elections.

The votes for BN were slightly less than the combined total of 28,056 cast in 2022 for the BN and PH candidates, while the votes for PN were also slightly lower than in 2022.

BN and PH were rivals in the 2022 elections, but have since become partners in the federal government coalition, and are allies in the Johor government.