PETALING JAYA: PKR Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin today belittled Barisan Nasional’s victory in last Saturday’s Teluk Intan by-election, noting that Mah Siew Keong managed to add only 71 votes to the number he got in last year’s general election.
She also atttributed the Gerakan president’s win to postal votes and the fear instilled in voters by a warning that Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi issued in one of his campaign speeches.
“Mah’s victory relied mainly on the postal votes and this is also something that could have been due to Zahid’s warning that the government knows who is voting for whom,” she said in a statement today.
“Although Mah Siew Keong has triumphed in the by-election, he only managed to increase the votes for BN by 71. This is nothing to be proud of, especially when he is a former MP for Teluk Intan.”
Last Saturday, Mah polled 20,157 votes, beating DAP’s Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud by 238 votes. Voter turnout was 66.67% and 550 votes were spoilt.
In the May 2013 general election, Mah lost to DAP’s Seah Long Peng by 7,313 votes.
Zuraida, who is the MP for Ampang, said Mah should have brought economic development to Teluk Intan during his nine-year tenure as MP for the constituency.
Mah served as Teluk Intan MP from 1999 until he was defeated by DAP in 2008.
