Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah – File photo
KUCHING: The result of the Tanjung Piai by-election shows that the people are not happy with Pakatan Harapan (PH), says state Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
He said the huge swing in votes to Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng was a sign that folks in the urban and suburban parliamentary constituency were clearly upset with a number of issues – unfulfilled manifesto promises and squabbling among PH leaders.
“In the last general election, the same BN incumbent (Wee) contested and lost by only about 500 votes. This time, Wee won by about 15,000 votes which is a big jump,” he told reporters after officiating at TEDxKenyalang 2019, here yesterday.
Abdul Karim said apart from PH not having achieved much in the two year’s since forming the federal government, the people are also beginning to tire of the coalition blaming everything on the previous BN administration.
When asked if GPS would consider rejoining BN on the back of its impressive showing in Tanjung Piai, Abdul Karim replied in the negative.
“I don’t see that (rejoining BN) happening. To me, GE14 was a blessing in disguise. Without the (result of) GE14, we would not have GPS.
“But now, we can crow ourselves and they (federal government) have to listen. GPS can work together with whoever is in the federal, whether it’s PH or BN, but they have to come to us and not us to them.”
On Saturday, Wee, 55, trounced Karmaine Sardini of PH, garnering 25,466 votes to win with a majority of 15,086 votes.
Four other candidates lost their deposits.
The Tanjung Piai by-election was the ninth to be called since the general election in 2018, involving five state and four parliamentary seats.
Saturday’s result means BN has won four of the nine by-elections – Tanjung Piai, Cameron Highlands, Rantau and Semenyih – while PH’s five wins were in Sandakan, Port Dickson, Seri Setia, Balakong and Sungai Kandis.
All the seats were successfully defended by the incumbent party except for Tanjung Piai and Semenyih, which ‘flipped’ from PH to BN.
The Tanjung Piai by-election was called after incumbent Datuk Dr Md Farid Md Rafik died of a heart attack on Sept 21.
In 2018, Dr Farid defeated Wee, who was previously the two-term MP, by a 524-vote majority.