GE15: Dr Mahathir loses Langkawi

ALOR SETAR: Protem chairman of Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad lost his Langkawi parliamentary seat to Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate Datuk Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah in the 15th General Election.

In the official results announced by the Election Commission tonight, 97-year-old Dr Mahathir, who is the oldest candidate in the polls, failed to retain the seat after securing only 4,566 votes.

Mohd Suhaimi, on the other hand, garnered 25,463 votes, to win with a 13,518-vote majority in the five-cornered fight.

The three other candidates were Datuk Armishah Siraj of BN-UMNO who obtained 11,945 votes, Zabidi Yahya of PH-Amanah (5,417 votes) and independent Datuk Abd Kadir Sainudin, who only secured 89 votes and also lost his deposit.

This is Dr Mahathir's first defeat in 53 years. In the 1969 election, he lost his Kota Setar Selatan seat to Yusof Rawa of PAS.

The polls in Langkawi involved 66,777 voters but only with a 72.1 per cent turnout. A total of 508 ballots were rejected, while 135 were unreturned.

In the last general election, Dr Mahathir won the Langkawi seat on the PKR ticket by defeating BN candidate Datuk Nawawi Ahmad and Zubir Ahmad of PAS with an 8,893-vote majority.

-- BERNAMA