BN loses Penang, Kelantan & Kedah; Lim Guan Eng next Penang CM

GEORGE TOWN, Sat:

After 36 years of continuous rule, the Barisan Nasional has lost the Penang Government to the loose alliance of DAP, PKR and Pas, according to unofficial results from the polling centres. The loss is the biggest shock in tonight's polls results. The coalition failed to topple Pas in Kelantan and was stunned in Kedah, where Pas will form the next state government.



MAJOR SHIFTS

:: DAP, PKR and Pas win 24 out of 40 state seats in Penang

:: Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon loses Batu Kawan

:: Pas wins 31 out 45 state seats in Kelantan

:: Datuk Awang Adek Hussin loses Bachok parliament and Perupok state seat

:: Datuk S. Samy Vellu lost his long-time sungai Siput parliamentary seat

:: Datuk Zainuddin Maidin lost the Sungai Petani parliamentary seat

:: Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil lost to Nurul Izzah Anwar in Lembah Pantai

:: Khairy Jamaluddin beats PKR’s Badrul Hisham Shaharin 

Analysis on why BN lost Penang

by Sharanjit Singh and Marina Emmanuel

The DAP will form the new State Government in Penang with Parti Keadilan Rakyat with party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng is set to be the new chief minister.

As at 11.30pm, unofficial results show that PKR won Pantai Jerejak (Sim Tze Tzin), Kebun Bunga (Ong Khan Lee), Bukit Tengah (Ong Chin Wen), Bukit Tambun (Law Choo Kiang), Batu Uban (V.S Raveenthran) and Pulau Betong (Mansor Othman). Pas incumbent candidate Mohd Hamdan Abdul Rahman retained the Permatang Pasir seat.

The political tsunami which swept Penang, ending Gerakan's 36-year rule of the state described as the party's Jewel in the Crown, was not unexpected.
The writing had been on the wall for a while, especially after several national and local issues enraged Penangites, topping with perceived erosion of non- Malay rights under BN rule, which the opposition capitalised in run up to the polls.

The opposition had little difficulty exploiting the widespread dissatisfaction of voters and this could be seen in the huge crowds which turned up at their ceramahs here. Those who turned up were fed with a litany of issues ranging from the alleged Umno dominance in the state administration and chief minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon's seeming inability to counter it.

DAP top guns Karpal Singh, Lim Guan Eng and blogger Jeff Ooi, coupled with Parti Keadilan Rakyat's defacto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, had a field day criticising Koh and the BN government.

These “doses of poison”, as Koh himself described the attacks, won over voters and this evidently translated into votes against the BN. However, the BN campaign here was also derailed by the focus on the chief minister succession issue. 

Instead of focusing on the battle at hand, Koh and other Gerakan leaders had been busy countering who would next head the state. The unresolved issue of the next chief minister of Penang is believed to have resulted in Gerakan and Koh's undoing in the state.

The decline of Koh's political fortune mirrors what happened to his predecessor Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu, who also suffered a wave of Penangite dissatisfaction which led to his defeat. In the run-up to the 1990 general election, the opposition had capitalised on the voter discontent which was then centred on the development of Bukit Bendera.

The proposed re-development of Penang Hill (as Bukit Bendera is called) in the run-up to the 1990 general election had caused the BN dearly, and forced the resignation of Dr Lim. The opposition in the run-up to the just-concluded polls had capitalized on the proposed redevelopment of the Penang Turf Club in Batu Gantung.

In 1969, Gerakan won 16 out of 24 seats in the state assembly. The party's founder Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu became Penang's second chief minister.

Following the May 13, 1969 riots which ensued from the general elections, parliamentary rule was suspended and the government was taken over by the National Operations Council. It was only in April 1971 that the democratic government was restored. Gerakan joined the ruling coalition on February 13, 1972 and has continued to govern Penang till tonight.

--NST