PM Anwar’s coalition wins with comfortable margin in Selangor by-election

KUALA LUMPUR - Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ruling coalition secured a comfortable victory in a Selangor by-election on May 11, in a vote seen as a gauge of whether a slew of recent controversies had soured support for Malaysia’s ruling alliance.

Ms Pang Sock Tao from the Democratic Action Party (DAP), one of the four members of Datuk Seri Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) alliance, polled 14,000 votes, or about 57.2 per cent of the valid votes, to retain the DAP’s stronghold in Kuala Kubu Baharu.

KKB, as it is known, is located about an hour’s drive north of Kuala Lumpur. The vote was called after the three-term incumbent, Ms Lee Kee Hiong of the DAP, died of ovarian cancer on March 21.

The candidate for the opposition Perikatan Nasional alliance, Mr Khairul Azhari Saut, received 10,131 votes (41.4 per cent) in the four-way contest in the non-Malay-majority seat of 40,226 voters. The total turnout was 61.5 per cent. 

Malays made up 49.3 per cent of the total voters, Chinese 30.6, Indians 17.9, and others 2.1 per cent.

The other two contenders – from Parti Rakyat Malaysia, a small party, and an independent candidate – lost their deposits as they did not receive enough votes.

Ms Pang’s strong polling numbers doused the predictions of PH critics that the ruling coalition would win by a small margin, or even lose its KKB stronghold, in the worst-case scenario.

According to this narrative, both ethnic Chinese and Indian voters are starting to have doubts about Mr Anwar’s so-called unity government, following a raft of controversies.

These included petrol bomb attacks egged on by a Malay leader on a Chinese-owned supermarket, and former premier Najib Razak getting a big discount on his jail sentence for corruption.

PH supporters have also been disappointed with the slow progress of the 18-month-old government in implementing institutional reforms, alongside growing concerns over the rising cost of living and the economic slowdown.

But in the end, the 57.2 per cent gained by Ms Pang, who is 31 and running in her first election, was an improvement over the 54 per cent secured by the late Ms Lee in the Selangor state polls in August 2023.

“Many had expected a reduced majority outcome for PH, but this is a validation that their traditional vote base is still intact. However, by-elections in Malaysia are poor predictive tools for national political dynamics and (the) general election,” said Mr Amir Fareed Rahim, strategy director at KRA Group, a political risk consultancy.

Ms Pang, who is the press secretary to the Housing and Local Government Minister, Mr Nga Kor Ming, had in April expressed confidence in winning the state seat, citing the significant support from the Malay community during her campaign.

Said political analyst James Chin: “There were a lot of sympathy votes for the late Ms Lee, who passed away under tragic circumstances. DAP was quite clever to keep Mr Anwar away from the campaign, so the focus of the campaign was on the PN candidate, who was uninspiring.”

Following the victory, PM Anwar congratulated PH and the unity government on DAP’s victory.

“(DAP secretary-general) Anthony Loke, congratulations on the victory in the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election... a fight to victory... (and) now we defend that win,” he said at a party function on May 11, according to The Star.

Selangor’s chief minister Amirudin Shari said in a statement that PH’s victory was “a signal that they don’t want an agent of division to represent them”, referring to the opposition’s often-used tactic of playing up religion and race issues.

“Instead, the people want unity and solidarity as the basis to bring economic advancement in the state and country that would upgrade the status and quality of life for all,” said Datuk Seri Amirudin.