PERIKATAN Nasional’s Azman Nasrudin has won the Padang Serai parliamentary seat in Kedah, with an estimated 16,260-vote majority.

Azman recorded 51,637 votes, while Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) Mohamad Sofee Razak polled 35,377.

Barisan Nasional’s (BN) C. Sivarraajh received 2,983 votes, while Independent candidate Sreanandha Rao received 846 votes, Pejuang’s Hamzah Abd Rahman collected 424 votes and Warisan’s Bakhri Hashim 149.

Sivarraajh and Bakhri pulled out from the contest to make way for Sofee, as part of a power-sharing deal between PH and BN.

However, the names of the two candidates still remained on the ballot papers based on article 9 of the Elections (Election Process) Regulations 1981, which states that no candidate can withdraw from the contest after the end of the nomination process.

The Padang Serai election was delayed following the death of Pakatan Harapan candidate M. Karupaiya, who won the seat in 2018, three days before the November 19 general election. – December 7, 2022.