Barisan Nasional wins by 1,725 majority. P Kamalanathan gets 24,997 votes to Datuk Zaid Ibrahim's 23,272. The hard-fought Hulu Selangor by-election win by the BN is what will be seen as a boost for Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s administration, but Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is expected to take heart from the close margin.
Earlier today, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had set a target of winning by up to 6,000 votes as observers had noted that BN needed to win big after pulling out all the stops during the campaign to justify Najib’s personal involvement and its pork-barrelled spending.
The ruling coalition had thrown everything and the kitchen sink at the campaign in an attempt to to put it on track to recovery after a string of by-election defeats since Election 2008.
BN had lost in all by-elections in the peninsular since 2008, except for its stronghold of Bagan Pinang in Negri Sembilan, which it retained in a by-election last October.
In today’s vote, Kamalanathan obtained 24,997 votes while Zaid received 23,272.
The results suggest BN and PR are still neck and neck in the battle for support from Malaysians, particularly in the peninsular.
08:55pm - Official result. 121 of 137 boxes counted: P. Kamalanathan (BN) - 22,693; Zaid Ibrahim (PKR) - 21,393
05:45pm - Voting were closed at 05:00pm. The voter turnout was 75.87%.
04:30pm - Voter turnout at 4pm was 73.82% or 47,615 people.
03:00pm - Polling stations opened across Hulu Selangor at 8 this morning with 67.18 per cent of 64,500 voters having cast their ballots up to 3pm, choosing between PKR's Datuk Zaid Ibrahim or MIC's P. Kamalanathan. The Election Commission said 43,333 have cast their votes in 136 polling streams by 3pm.
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Even before polling closes, the Barisan Nasional (BN) says it is confident of victory in today’s Hulu Selangor by-election, with a majority of 6,000 votes targetted by the campaign. Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the 6,000-vote target was based on the majority obtained by BN in winning the three state seats within the parliamentary constituency in Election 2008.
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MIC information chief P. Kamalanathan is the Barisan Nasional candidate for the Hulu Selangor by-election, Barisan deputy chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced Thursday.
Muhyiddin, who is the Deputy Prime Minister, made the announcement at the Barisan command centre for the by-election at Bukit Sentosa, near here.
"The choice was based on what the people in Hulu Selangor wanted. They wanted change," he said.
He said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had called him from the United States on Thursday morning, and told him that the Barisan machinery must work hard to win the by-election for the parliamentary seat.
Earlier in the day, the MIC agreed to field Kamalanathan (pic) as the Barisan candidate for the parliamentary seat.
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The Kelantan-born Zaid Ibrahim had the backing from the liberal faction in PKR and big names in the DAP. A hush-hush survey to gauge how the voters viewed the different possible candidates had Zaid’s name coming out tops.
In the end, party supremo Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had to go along with the majority view.
Zaid, a former Umno minister and a very wealthy lawyer, has a national image. His bold statements on issues has made him a recognizable face among Chinese groups and the intelligentsia.
“He is the most prominent national figure for PKR to field. He has his own kind of branding and also a bit of star power,” said Merdeka Centre director Ibrahim Suffian.
New-face Alice Lau would probably be picked by DAP to challenge Robert Lau Hui Yew from BN SUPP in the coming Sibu MP by-election.
The by-election is necessitated by the untimely demise of incumbent Datuk Robert Lau Hoi Chew, who was Deputy Transport Minister when he died of cancer on April 9 in Kuala Lumpur.
Talk of the street had it that Hui Yew was the person the late Lau had wanted to be his successor, especially in the later days when Lau realised it was hard for him to pull through.
But will the two Laus meet head-on in the coming battlefield? Most observers believe they will not.
“Alice will probably avoid it. The Lau clan will not want to see the two Laus fighting.
The clan member mentioned a famous quotation from the ancient ‘Warring State’, “We are all from the same root, why should we kill each other?”
Robert Lau Hui Yew is SUPP Sibu branch’s assistant treasurer and has been with SUPP for 17 years. Robert Lau Hui Yew is a lawyer by profession and is also a councillor with Sibu Municipal Council.
Robert Lau Hui Yew is also the second cousin of the late Datuk Robert Lau Hoi Chew.
Alice Lau is the Sibu DAP women chief. She held similar role in Sibu United Chinese Association before her political involvement.
A daughter of a prominent businessman, Alice is a pharmacist and has been active in Toastmasters’ activities. This was where she polished her public speaking skills.
Alice’s father Datuk Lau Cheng Kiong is the chairman of Sarawak Pan Chen Lau Clan Association.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and first lady Michelle Obama present give away Secretary of State's Award for International Women of Courage to Malaysia 's Ambiga Sreenevasan (Malaysian Bar Council) at the State Department in Washington , DC. in Mar 2009.
The shame of it all that we should be so proud (and are) of our own Malaysian receiving an international award like this, but the Malaysian government and press don't see it as important enough to publish it in our local dailies! It was only published by TheStar and THE SUN but rather small and hidden in the inner pages.
WHY???...BECAUSE SHE WEARS A SAREE.
Never mind if they don't publish in the papers......lets circulate ........
This Picture Made It To the Pages of India Times but not in our own papers!
U.S Department of State: The Secretary of State's 2009 International Women of Courage Awards
HindustanTimes: Ambiga Sreenevasan receives Women of Courage Award
Robert Lau Hoi Chew, Sibu MP and Deputy Transport Minister died Friday after battling liver cancer. He was 67. Lau's death will see the 11th by-election in the country since the last general election in March, 2008. His private secretary, Peter Hu, told the media that Lau died at his home here at 11.10am and arrangements were being made to take his body back to his home town in Sibu.
He left behind his wife, Datin Janet Lau Ung Hie, and three children.
Lau, who came from a prominent business family in Sibu, was elected MP for Sibu in 1990 and retained the seat for five terms under the Barisan Nasional. He was allocated the seat under the Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP).
The SUPP vice-president was appointed deputy housing and local government minister in March 2004, a portfolio which he retained after the general election in 2008.
However, after Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak took office as prime minister in April last year, he was made the deputy transport minister in a minor cabinet reshuffle.
Lau was once given the nickname, "toilet king", for his tireless effort to create a culture of cleanliness in public toilets in the country during his stint at the local government and housing minister.
Lau's elder brother, Datuk Lau Hui Siong, a prominent businessman and founder of conglomerate KTS Group, which is involved in the timber and media industries including the Borneo Post, Utusan Borneo and Oriental Daily, died in October 2004, also due to cancer.
In the last general election, Lau retained the mostly-urban Bandar Sibu parliamentary seat with a 3,235-vote majority in a three-cornered fight with Lim Chin Chuang (PKR) and Sarawak DAP Chairman Wong Ho Leng. - Bernama
