KOTA KINABALU: Another BN stronghold remained unscathed when incumbent Datuk Seri Anifah Aman retained the Kimanis parliamentary seat with a 5,723 votes majority as expected.
The caretaker Foreign Minister polled 13,754 votes in a 87 percent voters turnout in the four-cornered fight for the seat.
He will now be serving a third consecutive term since winning the seat nine years ago in 2004 and repeated the feat in the 2008 polls.
Despite strong opposition sentiments in the state, Anifah’s strong support grew stronger as evident by the increase of 3,512 votes from 10,242 votes secured in the GE12.
PKR’s Jaafar Ismail also recorded an increased voters’ support with 8,031 votes, while SAPP’s Jamil William Core (650 votes) and State Reform Party’S (STAR) Lusin Balangon (250) both lost their deposits.
Meanwhile, BN’s success resounded in the Membakut and Bongawan state constituencies through Datuk Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif and newcomer Mohamad Alamin.
Arifin retained the Membakut state seat with a 3,510 votes majority over PKR’s Narawi @ Sinar Ahmad (3,037 votes), while Alamin clinched victory with a 3,392 majority over PKR’s Tan Sri Ibrahim Menudin (4,051 votes).
SAPP’s Banjimin Ondoi (300 votes) and STAR’s Jaafar Ag Gador (139) both lost their deposits in the four-cornered fight for Membakut, while independent candidate Ak Aliuddin Pg Mohd Tahir (455), SAPP’s Awang Talip Awang Bagul (335) and STAR’s Assim @ Hassim Matali (321) suffered the same fate in the five-way contest for the Bongawan state seat.