A by-election was held for the Kedah State Assembly seat of Bukit Selambau on 7 April 2009 following the nomination day on 30 March 2009. The by-election was held on the same day as the Batang Ai state seat by-election and the Bukit Gantang federal seat by-election.
Background
The seat was vacated after the incumbent assemblyman and State EXCO, V. Arumugam resigned of both his positions on 9 February 2009. Arumugam was an assemblyman from the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), a component party of Pakatan Rakyat. He won the seat, then as an independent, by a majority of 2,362 votes against Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate, S. Krishnan in the 2008 Kedah state election. He later joined PKR after his victory, and were the party's state deputy chairman and Merbok PKR deputy chief at the time of his resignation as an MLA. Arumugam has alleged that his resignation were the result of harassment towards him and his family to leave PKR by BN, an allegation that were refuted by BN.
Candidates
S. Manikumar of PKR has been nominated as Pakatan Rakyat candidate in the by-election. BN, which forms the opposition in the Kedah Assembly, named S. Ganesan from MIC as their candidate. 13 other independent candidates were registered on nomination day, making this election one on the most number of candidates contesting ever recorded in Malaysia election history (15).
Results
The by-election was won by Manikumar from PKR with a majority of 2,403 votes.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PKR | Manikumar Subramanian | 12,632 | 52.23 | 52.23 | ||
BN | Ganesan Subramaniam | 10,229 | 42.31 | 2.79 | ||
Independent | Anuar Abdul Hamid | 528 | 2.18 | 2.18 | ||
Independent | Husaini Yaacob | 257 | 1.06 | 1.06 | ||
Independent | Mohd Fazil Abdul Wahab | 83 | 0.34 | 0.34 | ||
Independent | Tan Hock Huat | 78 | 0.32 | 0.32 | ||
Independent | T Chandrarajan Thanasagaran | 73 | 0.30 | 0.30 | ||
Independent | Abdul Rahim Abu | 60 | 0.25 | 0.25 | ||
Independent | Sarala Loganathan | 49 | 0.20 | 0.20 | ||
Independent | Moganakumar Subramaniam | 46 | 0.19 | 0.19 | ||
Independent | Jayagopal Adaikkalam | 35 | 0.14 | 0.14 | ||
Independent | Venason Micheal | 32 | 0.13 | 0.13 | ||
Independent | Loganathan Ramachandran | 31 | 0.13 | 0.13 | ||
Independent | Khamis Awang | 29 | 0.12 | 0.12 | ||
Independent | Radzi Md Lazim | 25 | 0.10 | 0.10 | ||
Total valid votes | 24,187 | 100.00 | ||||
Total rejected ballots | 415 | |||||
Unreturned ballots | 9 | |||||
Turnout | 24,611 | 70.04 | ||||
Registered electors | 35,140 | |||||
Majority | 2,403 | |||||
PKR hold | Swing | |||||
Source(s) "Pilihan Raya Kecil N.25 Bukit Selambau". Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 19 September 2018. |
References
- "Pilihan raya kecil". Archived from the original on 6 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
- "Arumugam quits; by-election in Bkt Selambau, Kedah". 9 February 2009.
- MAJID, EMBUN. "Former Bkt Selambau assemblyman Arumugam returns". The Star.
- "PKR's Arumugam quits as assemblyman and exco member". The Star.
- "BN suspicious over way Bukit Selambau rep resigned". 11 February 2009.
- "Record 15 candidates in Bukit Selambau". The Edge Markets. 29 March 2009.
- "Borang" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2022.