GE13: BN wins with 133, wrests back Kedah

PETALING JAYA: Barisan Nasional won 133 parliamentary seats at the 13th general election to record a slightly reduced performance compared to 2008 but managed to wrest Kedah from Pakatan Rakyat.

The Pakatan Rakyat coalition of PKR, PAS and DAP won 89 seats.

The ruling coalition failed to regain Selangor and Penang while retaining Perak with a slim three-seat majority, due to what Barisan chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak described as a "Chinese tsunami".

While Peninsular Malay and Bumiputra voters from Sabah and Sarawak mostly kept their faith in Barisan to deliver the ruling coalition a two-thirds victory, Chinese voters rewarded Pakatan Rakyat and particularly the DAP with 38 seats.

"There was a tsunami among the Chinese community which supported the Opposition," Najib told a press conference at Barisan headquarters at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

Najib also noted the racial polarisation in the trend of voting, and said this could lead to conflicts in society if it was not dealt with.

Voting ends, counting begins

People queue to vote in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur May 5, 2013. Long lines were reported at polling stations at the start of the day.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 5 — Balloting was declared officially closed at 5pm today and counting began for votes cast in 222 federal and 505 state seats nationwide in a tense battle that will decide Malaysia’s fate over the next five years.

According to the Election Commission the first results are expected after 7pm. Official voter turnout is around 80 per cent.

After 15 days of hectic campaigning that ended with hundreds of complaints of polling irregularities today, Malaysia will find out within hours who will be the next to helm their nation, finally putting an end to more than a year of uncertainty.

The acrimonious campaigning also culminated in violence today, when a crowd swarmed a police van in Ayer Hitam following allegations that two youths were assaulted by men inside. Penang caretaker chief minister Lim Guan Eng was forced to the scene to defuse the situation. Three men were reported hurt, while one was arrested.

Blasts had also been reported at several locations during campaigning last week, forcing police to come out repeatedly to publicly reassure voters of safety measures at polling stations.

GE13: Najib confident first-time voters will set country in right direction

Rousing reception: Najib getting a warm welcome from Barisan supporters during the ground-breaking ceremony for Universiti Teknologi Mara in Raub.

 

PEKAN: The results of the 13th general election will depend very much on the choice of young voters, especially those voting for the first time.

Barisan Nasional chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said this was evident by the number of first-time voters in the Pekan constituency.

“Of some 80,000 voters in Pekan, about 24,000 are first-time voters,” said Najib, who is the incumbent MP, at a gathering with young voters here yesterday.

The Prime Minister was confident the majority of youths would support a Barisan government.

“In other countries, youths are restless, angry, full of hatred and always demanding for the government to be changed.

Malaysia's election a balancing act for Najib

Malaysian Prime MInister Najib Razak (R) casts his vote at his hometown in Pekan on May 5, 2013. Photo courtesy: AFP

KUALA LUMPUR, May 5, 2013 (AFP) - Prime Minister Najib Razak has walked a tightrope between voters demanding change and hardliners resisting reform in Malaysia's decades-old regime, a balancing act that will be tested in elections Sunday.

The UK-educated economist with a patrician air took office after the ruling party dumped his predecessor over a 2008 parliamentary election performance that was the government's worst in its now-56 years in power.

He now confronts a multi-ethnic opposition that smells blood and has gained ground with promises to end rampant corruption and reform controversial policies that favour majority ethnic Malays.

The mild-mannered Najib, 59, has the advantages of incumbency, solid personal-approval ratings, control of traditional media, and his own pedigree as he seeks his first mandate from voters.

He is the son of a Malaysian founding father, hails from the Muslim-majority nation's revered ethnic Malay nobility, and has served three decades in the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the country's dominant party.