KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 – Barisan Nasional’s Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani secured a morale-boosting for his coalition today, winning the by-election for the Nenggiri state seat in the PAS bastion of Kelantan.
According to the MalayMail citing unofficial vote tally with just four streams left to count, the Umno man has secured an insurmountable lead over his rival, Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate Mohd Rizwadi Ismail from PAS.
The result will be an additional blow to PN, which triggered the by-election by stripping former Bersatu lawmaker Mohd Azizi Abu Naim of the seat after he declared support for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
PN has a virtual stranglehold over the Kelantan state assembly, where PAS and Bersatu control 42 out of its 45 seats.
Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan was among party leaders already claiming the victory online.
“Congratulations to the party machinery. Congratulations to Awie. Thank you, Malaysians and Nenggiri voters. Praise be to God,” he said in a post on Twitter, using the nickname of Mohd Azmawi Fikri.
