KUCHING: The final and 82nd result of the 12th Sarawak state election was finally confirmed today with Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) candidate Datuk Gerawat Gala announced as the winner of the Mulu seat, taking the state coalition's final haul in the polls to 76.

Based on the Election Commission website official results dashboard, Gerawat, the seat incumbent, defeated his three other challengers with an increased 2,875-vote majority.

Gerawat garnered 3,731 votes, easily defeating Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) candidate Prof Dr Son Radu who obtained 856 votes, Roland Engan of PKR (810 votes) and Richard Ibuh, representing Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK), who only managed 199 votes.

There are 9,572 registered voters for Mulu.

Last night, EC chairman Datuk Abdul Ghani Salleh announced that the Mulu results had been delayed because bad weather had hampered the airlift of the ballot boxes for counting.

GPS' landslide 76-seat victory in this state election is a significant improvement on its 2016 state election performance when it won 72 contesting under the Barisan Nasional banner.

PSB, meanwhile emerged as the new Opposition force in Sarawak after winning four seats, namely Batu Lintang, Engkilili, Bawang Assan and Ba'kelalan.

DAP, which had dominated the state opposition block in the past few terms, was dealt a major blow when it won only two state seats, in Padungan and Pending.

-- BERNAMA