DESPITE the low voter turnout in the Sungai Bakap by-election, Pakatan Harapan (PH) maintained its support among non-Malay voters, particularly Chinese voters.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who is also the Penang PH chairman, noted that the by-election results highlighted the continued prevalence of voting along racial lines.
“Although we have not conducted our post-mortem yet, many articles in the mainstream media are analysing the results of the Sungai Bakap by-election.
“We observed that Perikatan Nasional (PN) garnered around 80-83% of Malay votes, while PH secured approximately 85-90% of non-Malay votes,” Chow said.
Chow mentioned that the low voter turnout significantly impacted their results, costing them an estimated 2,500 votes.
He attributed the low turnout to various national, state, and local issues, including the removal of the diesel subsidy, inflation, and the rising cost of living.
When asked about rumours of two DAP camps during the campaign period, Chow denied the claims, explaining that state and national DAP leaders participated in the campaign at different times to show their support.
“We are always united in supporting PH and Barisan Nasional candidates,” he added.
In the July 6 by-election, PN retained the seat after Abidin Ismail from PAS won with a majority of 4,267 votes in a straight contest against Pakatan Harapan’s Dr Joohari Ariffin. Abidin received 14,489 votes, while Joohari garnered 10,222 votes.