KUALA LUMPUR, 24 Mar: The Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, said that Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail’s victory in the Kajang by-election is amazing because it managed to increase the percentage of Malay voters by over 50 percent.
He said that Malay votes for the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) candidate is lower in the 13th General Election (GE13) compared to the Kajang by-election.
“The popular vote increased to 59.7 percent compared to 57 percent in the GE13. Even though Umno says we have declined in the number of votes, 72 percent in most countries is considered high.
“What is important is that our percentage increased in Malay areas and among the young people. Umno can no longer continue the PR propaganda which is only supported by a small part of the Malay community.
“Wan Azizah, who is also a veiled Malay candidate, was able to demonstrate support from the Malay and Chinese communities. I describe it as something amazing,” he told the media at the Parliament lobby today.
Anwar stressed that although there was an increase in Chinese votes and support for MCA, it is still considered a ‘disaster’ for the party.
Yesterday, Dr Wan Azizah managed to retain the Kajang State Legislative Assembly (DUN) seat after defeating the Barisan Nasional candidate, Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, with a majority of 5.379 votes.
