Mar 10, 08 6:20pm
Barisan Nasional only gained about 51 percent of the popular vote
from the 7.9 million ballots cast on Saturday.
However, it took 63 percent of the seats contested - or 140 of 222
seats in Parliament.
Interestingly, its peninsula-wide popular vote was only 49.79
percent, which effectively means that the opposition received the
majority vote in this part of the country.
However, when converted to parliamentary seats, BN has 85 of the
constituencies in the peninsula, while the opposition bagged 80.
Almost 40 percent of the BN's seats are in Sabah and Sarawak - 55 out
of 140.
In 2004, BN won about 64 percent of the popular vote nationwide and
92 percent of the 219 parliamentary seats on offer then.
As the dust settles on the 12th general election, we highlight a
number of quirky facts and figures.
Election trivia
The youngest candidate was PKR's Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, who is 26. He
defeated Seri Setia incumbent Seripa Noli Syed Hussin.
The oldest candidate was grandma Maimun Yusuf, 89, who contested in
the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat. She lost her deposit.
56 also-rans from opposition parties and independent candidates lost
their deposits after failing to secure one-eighth of the votes cast.
The largest majority was won by DAP's Teresa Kok against BN's Carol
Chew, by 36,492 votes in the Seputeh parliamentary seat in Kuala Lumpur.
The smallest majority was just 14 votes for BN's Hamdi Abu Bakar who
beat Abu Bakar Haji Hussain of PAS in the Pengkalan Baharu state seat
in Perak.
Four pivotal players in the Lingam tape scandal also won: Loh Gwo
Burne (who recorded the footage), Wee Choo Keong (lawyer who
represented VK Lingam's brother during the inquiry) and R Sivarasa
and Sim Tze Tzin (listed as witnesses but eventually not called). All
four are from PKR.
There will be two 'lone rangers' in Parliament: Zulhasnan Rafique,
the sole BN survivor in Kuala Lumpur's 11 parliamentary seats - he
took Setiawangsa; and DAP's Chong Chieng Jen who won Bandar Kuching
in Sarawak - the remaining 30 parliamentary seats went to BN.
The biggest number of candidates was in the Sukau state seat, Sabah,
where eight candidates ran, including five Independents.
Debutant politicians
Prominent blogger Jeff Ooi - whose campaign was done online and funds
were raised through his website - won the Jelutong parliamentary seat
in Penang for DAP.
Other bloggers are Tony Pua (DAP, Petaling Jaya Utara parliamentary
seat), Elizabeth Wong (PKR, Bukit Lanjan state seat) and Nik Nazmi
Nik Ahmad (PKR, Seri Setia state seat).
Civil society activists who succeeded were Charles Santiago (DAP,
water-privatisation issues), Edward Lee (DAP, local community),
Elizabeth Wong and R Sivarasa (PKR, human rights).
Biggest blows
The losses in BN component parties will result in vacancies in
various ministries, forcing a cabinet reshuffle.
Ministers
S Samy Vellu (Works Ministry)
Shahrizat Abdul Jalil (Women, Family and Community Development Ministry)
Zainuddin Maidin (Information Ministry)
Abdul Aziz Shamsuddin (Rural and Territory Development Ministry)
Deputy ministers
Chia Kwang Chye (Information Ministry)
G Palanivel (Women, Family and Community Development)
Tan Chai Ho (Home Ministry)
V Veerasingam (Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry)
S Sothinathan (Natural Resources and Environment Ministry)
Donald Lim (Tourism Ministry)
Fu Ah Kiow (Internal Security Ministry)
M Kayveas (Prime Minister's Department)
Parliamentary secretaries
Chew Mei Fun (Women, Family and Community Development Ministry)
P Komala Devi (Education Ministry)
Lee Kah Choon (Health Ministry)
Ng Lip Yong (Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry)
S Vigneswaran (Youth and Sports Ministry)
Rahman Ibrahim (Home Ministry)
Dr Mohd Ruddin Ab Ghani (Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry)
Yew Teong Look (Federal Territories Ministry)
The full team from the Women, Family and Community Development
Ministry all lost in the polls.
All top MIC leaders were wiped out - president, deputy presidents,
two vice-presidents, women's chief and youth chief (one of the three
vice-presidents, KS Nijar, did not contest).
Post-election quotes
Anwar Ibrahim, PKR de facto leader, quoted in Star today
Some mentris besar in the past spent half-a-million ringgit to
renovate their offices. Such things cannot be an example in this new
administration.
Nurul Izzah Anwar, Lembah Pantai MP at a press conference yesterday
(On whether she will vacate the seat to force a by-election so that
her father, Anwar Ibrahim, can re-enter politics after a five-year
ban): I have already started working in my constituency. The question
does not arise.
PPP president M Kayveas, quoted in Star today
Prior to the elections, Barisan Nasional had kept on telling people
to show their dissatisfaction through the ballot box. Now they have
really shown it.
Sungai Petani losing BN candidate Zainuddin Maidin, quoted in Star today
It is not that they love PKR or PAS more that they voted against me.
The Chinese showed their resentment because of the economic backlash
they often complained about. So, PAS and PKR should not be overly
proud of their win (in Kedah).
The people may have to pay a price for their decision.
----------------------------------------------------------------
This e-mail has been sent via JARING webmail at http://www.jaring.my
No comments:
Post a Comment