Perikatan Nasional (PN) retained the Sungai Bakap state seat in a by-election today through its candidate Abidin Ismail. Abidin, the Nibong Tebal PAS vice-chief, won by a majority of 4,267 votes, polling 14,489 votes to beat Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Dr Joohari Ariffin, who obtained 10,222 votes. The official results were announced by returning officer Khairulnizam Hashim at the vote-tallying centre at the Jawi Multipurpose Hall in Taman Desa Jawi here tonight. Khairulnizam said the voter turnout was 63.45 per cent. In the state election in August last year, Nor Zamri Latiff of PAS won the Sungai Bakap seat after defeating PH candidate Nurhidayah Che Rose by a majority of 1,563 votes. The seat fell vacant following the death of Nor Zamri, who was Nibong Tebal PAS division chief, on May 24 due to stomach inflammation. Meanwhile, Abidin, when met by reporters, expressed his appreciation and gratitude to the PN leadership for entrusting him as its candidate for the by-election. 'Alhamdulillah, Allah has granted victory to PN, (it is) with the help of friends from the machinery across Malaysia,' he said. Joohari said he accepted the defeat with an open heart and mind, as the people had made the best assessment from various perspectives, which was reflected in today's results. 'I believe this decision can be accepted with an open heart. This was the best election ever conducted by the Unity Government, and we can see how the machinery worked their hardest, and the unity was very effective,' he said. Source: BERNAMA News Agency