Penang falls to DAP

Opposition rides high on wave of widespread discontent as Gerakan figures fall like ninepins

By Chow Kum Hor, MALAYSIA CORRESPONDENT PENANG

POLICEMEN WAVING THEIR HANDS in an attempt to control the crowd of DAP supporters outside a counting centre in Penang.

THE Democratic Action Party (DAP) is set to form the new state government here, in a stunning victory that the opposition last achieved almost 40 years ago.

Riding on a wave of widespread discontent, the opposition went from having just two state seats in the last election to 29 in the 40-seat legislature, according to official results this morning.

The Election Commission last night confirmed the loss of the state by Barisan Nasional (BN).

The election outcome, which is particularly embarrassing for Penang-born Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, saw the DAP winning all the 19 state seats it contested. Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) won eight seats and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) one.

Datuk Seri Abdullah retained his parliamentary seat in Kepala Batas with a margin of 11,246 votes, down from 18,122 in 2004.

The DAP brought down BN top guns such as outgoing Chief Minister Koh Tsu Koon and the three candidates he had short-listed to replace him had the coalition won. Tan Sri Koh told a press conference that he was surprised by the defeat and had called up state DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow to work out a smooth transition of power.

FACES
RISE & FALL
JEFF OOI (DAP)

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Mr Chang Ko Youn, vice-president of the Gerakan party, said the Penang defeat was like 'a tsunami coming in'.

'Nobody expected it to be so bad,'' he told Associated Press.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, who won both the Bagan Parliament and Air Putih state seats, is expected to be the new chief minister in a coalition with PKR, the party's political secretary�Ng Wei Aik�told The Sunday Times.

The last time the opposition wrested control of the state government was in 1969. At that time, Gerakan, then in the opposition, beat the Alliance, BN's predecessor. In 1974, Gerakan became one of BN's founding members and has continued to rule Penang since.

Tan Sri Koh, who had led Penang since 1990, lost to Professor P. Ramasamy, who won the Batu Kawan parliament seat.

The former university lecturer also defeated Mr L. Krishnan for the Prai state seat.

PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail retained her Permatang Pauh Parliament seat. That has set the stage for another showdown in the constituency.

She plans to give up the seat when the five-year ban preventing her husband, former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim, from holding public office expires next month. Her move will trigger a by-election, allowing him to contest the seat.

Also victorious was DAP's Jeff Ooi, who won in Jelutong. His website has a cult-like following and he is set to be Malaysia's first brand-name blogger to become an MP.

Another high-profile DAP candidate, Mr Liew Chin Tong, who appears regularly as a guest on television talk shows, beat Gerakan secretary-general Chia Kwang Chye in the Bukit Bendera Parliament seat.

Datuk Seri Chia's brother Loong Thye also lost in Tanjung Bunga - a seat previously held by Tan Sri Koh.

All three Gerakan leaders tipped to take over from Tan Sri Koh - Datuk Teng Hock Nan, Datuk Teng Chang Yeow and Datuk Lee Kah Choon - lost.

Other DAP winners include its chairman Karpal Singh, who retained Bukit Gelugor, and his son Jagdeep Singh Deo, who won the Datuk Keramat state seat.

The election saw the Malaysian Indian Congress erased from the state legislature following the defeat of its two representatives.

The other BN leader who survived DAP's onslaught was Second Finance Minister Mohamed Yakcop, a veteran bureaucrat co-opted into politics in 2004, who won Tasek Gelugor.

PAS retained its stronghold in the Permatang Pasir state seat while Umno lost five state seats, according to unofficial results.

The DAP's strong showing here was not surprising. There is widespread anger among the Chinese, who form 46.5 per cent of the state population, over rising prices, surging crime and fraught inter-racial ties over issues like religious conversion.

Indians, BN's traditional vote-bank, also turned against the government following the Hindraf rally last November.