A group of kampong boys in Penanti near the tallying centre caught up in election fever after the results were announced
As some of you have pointed out, there is a discrepancy between the Election Commission’s figure for the voter turnout of 65 per cent turnout and the actual turnout, which was 81 per cent. This discrepancy created a lot of confusion.
Anwar secured 31,195 votes; Ariff 15,524 votes and Akim’s Hanafi Mamat 92 votes (deposit lost). That is over 46,800 votes cast compared to the total voters of around 58,000.
My math whizz friend comments, “It looks like the Election Commission can only count correctly when the BN wins.”
He further analysed the results and came up with the following conclusions:
- Anwar won two thirds of the votes cast.
- The support for PKR comes from all ethnic groups.
- Support for Anwar/PKR among the Malays comes in at around 60-65 per cent. Incidentally this tallies with what Din, the elderly gentleman in Kampong Petani, told me: “Out of a hundred residents here, you could say 60 to 70 support PKR.”
One final point, 33 per cent of you were correct in your prediction (in the poll on this blog) that Anwar would secure a 15,001-20,000 majority. So were those who predicted a high turnout.
Our citizen journalists were also spot on in predicting a landslide victory for PKR/Anwar. Speaking of which, I will let Karma have the final say:
A jubilant mood all over Permatang Pauh.
The poor are proud that Anwar has made it. Pak Din, a farmer said, “Biarlah Anwar tak beri saya apa-apa. Saya kesihan kat depa. Teruk sangat orang kutuk kat depa. Saya sekeluarga undi depa.”
I talked to an Indian man in his late 30s, introducing himself as Rama. He declared in Malay, “Dia orang mau kasi malu sama itu Anwar Brahim. TV kasi malu. Video kasi malu. Cakap orang besar pun mau kasi malu sama dia. Apa ini politik ka? Itu pasal saya kasi undi sama Anwar. Dia orang baik. Mau tolong sama kita.”
I met a Chinese who introduced himself as Uncle Leong. His immediate reaction to Anwar’s victory was, “Kita semua sudah kata, ini Anwar mesti menang punya. Olang BN manyak kacau. Tadak malu lo. Apa ini cakap-cakap bikin ini macam. Anwar bukan olang macam itu lo. Dia manyak baik. Ini BN tak boleh kasi menang. Kita mesti mau itu Anwar jadi perdana menteri. Dia manyak pandai punya orang. Ini budak apa itu cakap itu macam. Dia tada maluka. Dia punya ayah pun tada maluka? Kasi malu itu orang Melayu.”
Yes, with all the machinery BN had – the TV, the newsprint, the money, the swearing, prominent spokesmen including top government officials to counter Anwar – they still lost. The people want a change. BN’s 51 years at the helm, they feel is enough. People are now united as Malaysians. They are no more talking about racial matters. It’s the oneness they want now…
P.S. from a car load of nice guys I happened to bump into in Permatang Pauh today:
Remember us!…the car that shout ‘blogger unite’ at you (1.00 to 2.00pm…in Permatang Pauh town)… about the winning statistic 70 per cent for PKR and 30 per cent to BN
..and you asked back, ”Are you sure?”
Then my brother replied, “Now it’s 80 per cent to 20 per cent” (after checking his crystal ball).
We are from Kepala Batas. And the rest of us like to thank you and all the bloggers for coming to P44 and making our dreams come true. Zillion thanks!
Final result:
KEPUTUSAN PILIHANRAYA KECIL PARLIMEN PERMATANG PAUH (P44):
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (KeADILan): 31,195 undi
Hanafi Mamat (AKIM): 92 undi
Datuk Arif Shah Omar Shah (BN): 15,524 undiJumlah mengundi: 47,258
Peratus keluar mengundi: 81 peratus
Undi rosak: 447 undi
Majoriti: 15,671 undi
16th September,Malaysia Day.What a celebration.
Taib Mahmud and Musa Aman, your turn to be hereos!
Time to give true meaning to Malaysia Day!
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Just sending you a VERY BIG HUG, Anil!!! Good work, bro
Yahoooooooooooooooo!!!!! Heeheeheeheeheeeheeeheeehee!
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Thank you! Thank You! Thank You!
A remarkable change has happened. A resounding victory that no one can ever deny; even though I was a bit puzzled by the discrepancy on voter turnout. Strange indeed!
History in the making for Malaysia!
Now we have a reason to celebrate true MERDEKA.
MERDEKA!
For all Malaysian citizens
MERDEKA!
For the oppressed, downtrodden, underprivileged masses
MERDEKA!
For politicians brave enough to face the might of a tyrannical government
Ahh, victory is sweet.
But now the daunting task of fulfilling that victory rests on all of us. Let’s move on to make Malaysia great again!
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[...] It’s 80 percent Turnout…. [...]
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dear anil,
congrate n thanx for yo live report from the permatang pauh. i continously follow-up since 8am yesterday till the final result.
MERDEKA MALAYSIA
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I am proud of people of Permatang Pauh, I am proud of the Pakatan Rakyat leaders and of course I am proud of you bloggers for updating people like me. How interesting live can be when in the morning, middle of the night or at any time when you read news that is thought provoking, something that doesn’t belittle your intelligence and there are no black out. Good job bloggers and it is my prayer that one day we will have the freedom of the press in this country and we will have the opportunity that every Malaysians have the right to agree not to disagree and to take what ever position without fear or favor.We want progress and we want change and you bloggers have initiated it. Keep up and may GOD bless you. Thank you.
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Great result for DSAI, and also for everyone who wants good changes to happen in Malaysia.
And thank you for your brilliant coverage of the by-election from Permatang Pauh yesterday!
“Imagine Power To The People” John Lennon.
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Anil & citizen journalists
Thank you so much for a job well done! I was logged on to your site, plus Haris’s, Din’s, Zorro’s in additions to Malaysiakini, Anwar’s, Sloone’s blog and a few others – from morning to mid-nite yesterday.
Just love your live coverage past few days and encouraging comments from readers. Honestly, was quite apprehensive for last-minute surprises from BN. I think the results would have been “splashed” on main TV channels much2 earlier if BN were to win and they would have gone “live” at PP just to show their “victory”! Ini, macam tak nak cakap saje. Even this morning, they seem to down-play PR’s victory, as if “its nothing”.
Hope YB Gopalakrishnan and sons are all okay and will be out soon.
Hm, still cant get thru to malaysiatoday. What’s happening there?
Okay, have a good rest! Cheers!
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i was following ur updates from my office in KL, didnt have the spirit to focus on work that much! thanks for ur hard work
this is Anwar’s and the people’s victory!!
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wonderful victory for changing Malaysia.
can you put a link to Malaysia Today other website. Cant access probably work of the BN. Or maybe you re-post their recent articles
thank you
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syabas to DSAI and thank you the people of PP, you made history yesterday and define a new chapter in Malaysia
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Bro, a job well done. You guys(bloggers on ground zero) are the unsung hero of this great victory. I never left KL but Permatang Pauh and all its action was just a click away. Never before we had such a live coverage… and you guys had set a new trend. Bravo..mates
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great work, anil! thank you for keeping us updated.
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thank you for reporting with such dilligency and committment..
i went to sleep smiling last night
i am actually interested in one thing
did arif won in seberang jaya? [his costituency]
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even the boys from Kepala Batas support Anwar..
now that he’s in Parliament, it’ll be nice to see if his actions reflect his promises to the Rakyat. time is of the essence!!
they always tell us, Malaysia Boleh!!
26th of August 2008, the good people of P44 Permatang Pauh showed us how capable they are after all!
nothing is impossible BN, prepare your exit plans from the country now you corrupt bunch …
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Hi Anil, We really appreciate the work you have done at Permatang Pauh. It’s people like you (including the other bloggers) we Malaysians would get a better comprehensive view of the stories that were flying all around us.
Hope you keep up your work and please do not forget HERALD – keep entertaining us least we forget the social dimension of what our faith requires each individual to perform. I sincerely think our prayers (which was published in the Herald) played a part too in this by-ecection. God Bless.
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congrats dsai………..wish him good luck and my only hope is he will make sure his way to become pm will be succeeded….no boundaries for a real hero, all races supported him and iam sure he will never make us regret………..now the next question is? kj dah resign ke seperti yang dia cabar tu?
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Well Done…all you real citizens of Malaysia who work so hard for the last ten days to achieve this great victory. Thank you for the updates which I was excitingly following from Sydney. We, Malaysians from abroad hope that with this victory, Malaysia can be saved from being call a corrupted country like Zimbabwe, no laws and no direction. Congratulations DSAI!!
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a superb well balanced informative timely posting of the thriller.
neutral and excellent journalistic effort !
thats passion with 2 Ps (PP)
much better than Zorro’s hap hazzard post
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Thank you for the updates, and the reports from ground zero. It kept me sane.
For all the news (almost zilch!) the radio or tv provided, one could be forgiven for thinking that nothing big was happening in Malaysia at all! Like that lah our msm, so free and fair!
I am going to put a link to this post on my blog – and curi-ing it as well (cut and paste!) because I especially like the interviews with the ‘real people’ you feature. BN misjudged the common man – and paid the price for it.
It is time for some well deserved rest now, but the work is just beginning, no?
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Whatever; the Rakyat won with the help of the voters of Permatang Pauh who voted for Anwar.
Thank you Anil, for “job” well done.
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Bro,thanks for the update.
Please remind Anwar to pay a visit to YB Gobalakrishnan and his sons.
They have sacrificed alot for us.
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At 4pm the EC announced 64% voter turnout. So how did the turnout reach 80% in the last hour with all the traffic jams, road blocks and difficulty of voters to get to the polling centre?
In the 2008 G.E., the voter turnout was 81%. With the by-election held on a working day coupled with rainy weather and many voters outstation, the high voter turnout in this by-election is extraordinary and rivals ideal conditions in the G.E.
Either it shows the extraordinary determination of the PP voters to vote for change or there is some suspicious activity here to reduce Anwar’s majority.
What do you think, Anil?
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Very Many Many Thanks, Man!
Terrific job! Gave you big kick, didn’t it?
Take some deserved rest!
We need to look at the 09 Budget for Friday!
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Maybe the EC counted correctly. Ghosts can’t be counted as far as I know…
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