2009 Bukit Selambau by-election

2009 Bukit Selambau by-election

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Bukit Selambau seat in the Kedah State Legislative Assembly
PKR BN Candidate S. Manikumar S. Ganesan Party PKR BN (MIC) Alliance Pakatan Rakyat Popular vote 12,632 10,229 Percentage 52.23% 42.31%
Bukit Selambau assemblyman before election Arumugam Vengatarakoo PKR Elected Bukit Selambau assemblyman S. Manikumar PKR

A by-election was held for the Kedah State Legislative Assembly seat of Bukit Selambau on 7 April 2009 following the nomination day on 30 March 2009. ^[1] The by-election was held on the same day as the Batang Ai state seat by-election and the Bukit Gantang federal seat by-election.

Background

The seat was vacated after the incumbent assemblyman and State EXCO, Arumugam Vengatarakoo resigned of both his positions on 9 February 2009. ^[2] Arumugam was an assemblyman from the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), a component party of Pakatan Rakyat. He won the seat, then as an independent, by a majority of 2,362 votes against Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate, S. Krishnan in the 2008 Kedah state election. He later joined PKR after his victory, and were the party's state deputy chairman and Merbok PKR deputy chief at the time of his resignation as an MLA. ^[3] Arumugam has alleged that his resignation were the result of harassment towards him and his family to leave PKR by BN, an allegation that were refuted by BN. ^{[4] [5]}

Election Commission of Malaysia announced on 13 February 2009 that the by-election for both this seat and Bukit Gantang federal seat in Perak will be held on 7 April 2009, with 29 March 2009 set as the nomination day. ^[6]

Candidates

S. Manikumar of PKR has been nominated as Pakatan Rakyat candidate in the by-election. BN, which forms the opposition in the Kedah Assembly, named S. Ganesan from MIC as their candidate. 13 other independent candidates were registered on nomination day, making this election one on the most number of candidates contesting ever recorded in Malaysia election history (15). ^[7]

Results

The by-election was won by Manikumar from PKR with a majority of 2,403 votes.

Kedah state by-election, 7 April 2009: Bukit Selambau
Upon the resignation of incumbent, V. Arumugam ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	PKR	Manikumar Subramanian	12,632	52.23	52.23
	BN	Ganesan Subramaniam	10,229	42.31	2.79
	Independent	Anuar Abdul Hamid	528	2.18	2.18
	Independent	Husaini Yaacob	257	1.06	1.06
	Independent	Mohd Fazil Abdul Wahab	83	0.34	0.34
	Independent	Tan Hock Huat	78	0.32	0.32
	Independent	T Chandrarajan Thanasagaran	73	0.30	0.30
	Independent	Abdul Rahim Abu	60	0.25	0.25
	Independent	Sarala Loganathan	49	0.20	0.20
	Independent	Moganakumar Subramaniam	46	0.19	0.19
	Independent	Jayagopal Adaikkalam	35	0.14	0.14
	Independent	Venason Micheal	32	0.13	0.13
	Independent	Loganathan Ramachandran	31	0.13	0.13
	Independent	Khamis Awang	29	0.12	0.12
	Independent	Radzi Md Lazim	25	0.10	0.10
Total valid votes			24,187	100.00
Total rejected ballots			415
Unreturned ballots			9
Turnout			24,611	70.04
Registered electors			35,140
Majority			2,403
	PKR hold		Swing
Source(s) "Pilihan Raya Kecil N.25 Bukit Selambau". Election Commission of Malaysia . Retrieved 19 September 2018.

References

1. "Pilihan raya kecil". Archived from the original on 6 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
2. "Arumugam quits; by-election in Bkt Selambau, Kedah". 9 February 2009.
3. MAJID, EMBUN. "Former Bkt Selambau assemblyman Arumugam returns". The Star.
4. "PKR's Arumugam quits as assemblyman and exco member". The Star.
5. "BN suspicious over way Bukit Selambau rep resigned". 11 February 2009.
6. "Simultaneous by-elections on April 7" . Malaysiakini. 13 February 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
7. "Record 15 candidates in Bukit Selambau". The Edge Markets. 29 March 2009.
8. "Borang" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2022.