ALOR STAR: Alor Star PKR Youth has rebuked Barisan Nasional for demanding to contest the state capital's parliamentary seat and a state seat in the 16th General Election (GE16).
Its chief, Tan Jin Hao, stressed that the Alor Star parliamentary seat should remain a PKR seat to contest in the next polls.
"Based on the GE15 results, the second-highest votes went to PKR with 27,555 votes as compared to the BN candidate who polled 8,930 votes.
"Based on the GE14 results, PKR candidate Chan Ming Kai won the Alor Star parliamentary seat after securing 32,475 votes, compared to the BN candidate who was in third spot with 14,181 votes," he said in a statement.
For the record, Perikatan Nasional wrested the seat from PKR in GE15 through Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden in a crowded seven-corner battle, with 9,931 majority votes.
He defeated the Pakatan Harapan candidate from PKR, Simon Ooi Tze Min, who garnered the second-highest votes and BN candidate Tan Chee Hiong who garnered 8,930 votes.
The other candidates were Datuk Mohamad Nuhairi Rahmat (Pejuang), Fadzil Hanafi (Warisan) and two independent candidates, Nordin Yunus and Sofan Feroza Md Yusup (Bebas).
Prior to that, PKR had held the seat for two terms after wresting the constituency from BN.
Tan said, based on the voting performances in the last general elections held in 2018 and 2022, BN candidates in Kedah have been reduced to third spot in the overall vote tally.
"To Kedah BN chairman Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid information, in the latest state election (held in August 2023), both BN and PH agreed to the seat allocations.
"We agreed during the negotiations that BN commanded the advantage in 18 state seats.
"PH on the other hand, agreed on 18 seats that were shared amongst three components, namely PKR, Amanah and DAP," he said.
Tan said while BN lost in all 18 state seats it contested, PH retained its three state seats.
"Kedah BN should do soul-searching and carry out a post-mortem to study its rejection by the people in Kedah.
"Not only that, but BN supporters have also turned their backs and given their votes to PN candidates, which has now become a current political phenomenon," he said.
Tan was responding to Mahdzir's statement on Saturday that Alor Star Umno division has the right to demand to contest in seats that PH lost to PN, in the next general election.
Mahdzir, who is also Kedah Umno liaison committee chairman, said there was justification to push for the seat allocation review following the devastating 15th state election results.
Last Friday, 497 Alor Star Umno division delegates unanimously passed a resolution demanding BN contest the Alor Star parliamentary seat and one state seat in the constituency in the GE16.
The delegates who attended the division's annual general assembly demanded that the party contest the Alor Star parliamentary seat and either the Suka Menanti or Alor Mengkudu state seat.