Barisan stronghold of Pahang appears to be shaky

KUANTAN: The Barisan Nasional bastion of Pahang has been breached, with Perikatan Nasional dealing a heavy blow to the coalition.

It was still uncertain at press time whether Pahang Barisan, under the leadership of Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, had the numbers to form the next state government.

Perikatan managed to flip the Cheka, Kuala Sentul, Pulau Tawar and Bukit Ibam state seats while retaining Luit, Tanjung Lumpur, Damak, Tahan and Chenor.

PAS deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man is now a member of the Pahang state assembly after winning Cheka.

Pakatan Harapan, meanwhile, successfully held on to Tanah Rata, Tras, Teruntum, Mentakab and Triang so far.

Only Tioman could not be counted as polling for the state seat was suspended after the death of Perikatan candidate Md Yunus Ramli yesterday.

Perikatan also pulled off massive upsets in parliamentary seats, seizing Kuantan, Maran, Jerantut and Kuala Krau at press time.

Pakatan’s three-term Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh suffered a shocking loss, being defeated by Perikatan’s Wan Razali Wan Nor who seemingly came out of nowhere.

Meanwhile, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob retained Bera with a 16,695-vote majority.

Datuk Seri Ismail Abd Muttalib, who defected to Perikatan after being dropped as a Barisan candidate, retained the Maran seat.

In Bentong, Pakatan’s Young Syefura Othman defeated former MCA president Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai along with former Bentong MP Wong Tack and two others.

What once was a Barisan stronghold appears shaky and the final results remain to be seen.

As at 1.47am today, Wan Rosdy had not issued any statement while there was a heavy police presence outside the government offices on Jalan Gambut.