'Honest and detailed' post-mortem on crushing defeat will be carried out: Mahathir

KUALA LUMPUR — Pakatan Harapan (PH) will carry out a detailed post-mortem to ascertain causes of its defeat in the Tanjung Piai by-election, which Barisan Nasional (BN) won with a whopping vote-majority of 15,086.

In a statement on Monday (Nov 18), PH chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad also revealed that he had earlier expected the coalition to be defeated by not more than 2,000-vote majority.

“I take note and accept the decision made by the Tanjung Piai constituents, although it was predicted earlier that the majority will lean towards the opposition. I had expected that the defeat would not be more than a 2,000-vote majority, but the official results showed a defeat by a 15,086-vote majority," said Dr Mahathir, who is also the Malaysian Prime Minister. 

“An honest, serious and detailed post-mortem will be carried out at all levels in the party (coalition) to ascertain causes of the defeat. I would like to thank all who had worked hard for the by-election,” he added

BN’s Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng won a landslide victory after garnering 25,466 votes.

Meanwhile, PH candidate Karmaine Sardini received 10,380 votes, Gerakan’s Wendy Subramaniam garnered 1,707 votes and Berjasa candidate Datuk Dr Badhrulhisham Abdul Aziz polled 850 votes.

The two Independent candidates, Ms Faridah Aryani Abd Ghani and Dr Ang Chuan Lock, only garnered 380 and 32 votes respectively. NEW STRAITS TIMES