2018 Seri Setia by-election

A by-election was held on 8 September 2018 for the Selangor State Legislative Assembly seat of Seri Setia.[1] The seat became vacant after the sudden death of the incumbent assemblyman and Selangor state executive councillor, Shaharuddin Badaruddin on 2 August 2018 from colon cancer.[2] Shaharuddin was a member of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat or People's Justice Party (PKR), a component party of the state ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition. This was the third by-election for the Selangor State Assembly since the 2018 general election, after the Sungai Kandis and Balakong by-elections. Shaharuddin won the seat with a majority of 19,372 votes, defeating BN’s Yusoff M Haniff, PAS’s Mohd Ghazali Daud and independent S Vigneswaran.[3] This by-election was held on the same day as the Balakong by-election.[1] The nomination day was on 18 August 2018, with a 21-day campaigning period until election day.[1]

2018 Seri Setia by-election

8 September 2018
N32 Seri Setia seat in the Selangor State Legislative Assembly
PH PAS Candidate Halimey Abu Bakar Halimah Ali Party PKR PAS Alliance PH GS Popular vote 13,725 9,698 Percentage 58.60% 41.40%
Seri Setia assemblyman before election Shaharuddin Badaruddin (died) Pakatan Harapan (PKR) Elected Seri Setia assemblyman Halimey Abu Bakar Pakatan Harapan (PKR)

  Seri Setia state constituency boundaries within the Petaling Jaya parliamentary constituency

The by-election saw a straight fight between Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Halimey Abu Bakar from the PKR and Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) candidate Halimah Ali. In opposite to the Sungai Kandis and Balakong by-elections, the Barisan Nasional (BN) decided not to contest in Seri Setia. This was widely regarded as a sign of cooperation between PAS and BN, designed to ensure there is only a single opposition candidate for each by-election.[4]

N32 Seri Setia state constituency border and the districts included within the constituency.

Campaign

The by-election campaign largely focused on bread and butter issues, such as local development and the introduction of a new sales tax replacing the GST.[5][6]

A case of negative campaigning marred the final days of campaign. The PAS candidate Halimah claimed that Seri Setia was too "intelligent" to vote for "local boy with an outdated mentality", insinuating about her opponent's poor origins. These remarks were criticised by the PH camp.[7]

Result

PKR’s Halimey Abu Bakar, got 13,725 votes, defeating PAS’ Dr Halimah Ali who got 9,698, getting a majority of 4,027 votes thus retaining the seat for PKR and Pakatan Harapan.[8] PAS significantly increased its share of vote, which was credited to the fact BN not contesting the seat.[9]

Selangor state by-election, 8 September 2018: Seri Setia
Upon the death of incumbent, Shaharuddin Badaruddin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	PH	Halimey Abu Bakar	13,725	58.60	- 8.02
	PAS	Halimah Ali	9,698	41.40	+ 31.01
Total valid votes			23,423	100.00
Total rejected ballots			164	0.69	- 0.23
Unreturned ballots			28
Turnout			23,615	44.15	- 40.29
Registered electors			53,492
Majority			4,027	17.20	- 26.92
	PH hold		Swing		- 19.52
Source(s) "Federal Government Gazette - Notice of Contested Election - By-election of the State Legislative Assembly of N.32 Seri Setia for the State of Selangor [P.U. (B) 499/2018]" (PDF). Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia. 20 August 2018. Retrieved 2018-09-19. "Federal Government Gazette - Results of Contested Election and Statement of the Poll after the Official Addition of Votes for the By-election of N.32 Seri Setia [P.U. (B) 523/2018]" (PDF). Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 2018-09-19.

Results according to polling districts

Voting District Code	Voting District	Party
105/32/01	Glenmarie	PH
105/32/02	SS6	PAS
105/32/03	SS5D	PH
105/32/04	SS5A	PH
105/32/05	Seri Setia	PH
105/32/06	PJS5 Kampung Penaga	PH
105/32/07	PJS6/4-6/6	PH
105/32/08	PJS10/1-PJS10/6	PH
105/32/09	Rumah Pangsa Sungai Way	PH
105/32/10	PJS5/1-PJS5/12	PH
105/32/11	PJS6/1-6/3	PH
105/32/12	PJS8	PH
105/32/13	PJS10/17-PJS10/34	PH
105/32/14	SS7	PH
105/32/15	Kampung Lindungan	PH
105/32/16	PJS5/13-PJS5/30	PAS
105/32/17	Taman TTDI Jaya	PH
105/32/18	Ara Damansara	PH
105/32/19	Taman Glenmarie	PH

Voting District Code	Voting District	Party
	Post Vote	PAS
105/32/00	Early Vote	PAS

Previous result

2018 Selangor state election: Seri Setia

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PH (PKR)	Shaharuddin Badaruddin	29,250	66.62	9.49
	BN	Yusoff M Haniff	9,878	22.50	20.37
	PAS	Mohd Ghazali Daud	4,563	10.39	N/A
	Independent	Vigweswaran T Subramaniam	217	0.49	N/A
Rejected ballots			411	0.92	0.66
Majority			19,372	44.12	29.86
Turnout			44,457	84.44	0.21
Registered electors			52,650
	PKR hold		Swing	14.93

References

1. "Seri Setia and Balakong by-elections to run concurrently". Malaysiakini. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
2. "Seri Setia rep Shaharuddin dies". Malaysiakini. 2 August 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
3. "Dr Shaharuddin Badaruddin to be buried on Friday". New Straits Times. 2 August 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
4. Muhammad, Anne (18 August 2018). "Harapan-PKR faces PAS in Seri Setia straight fight". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
5. Ramasamy, Manirajan (23 August 2018). "Education will be thrust of Seri Setia development". New Straits Times. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
6. Epi, Zainal (5 September 2018). "In Seri Setia, new tax set to weigh on Pakatan's chances". Malay Mail. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
7. Lee, Annabelle (6 September 2018). "Harapan candidate tears up over rival's 'local boy' criticism". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
8. "Pakatan Harapan gets first electoral victories as a coalition". Free Malaysia Today. 8 September 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
9. Kamarulzaman, Zikri; Aw, Nigel (8 September 2018). "In new opposition alliance, BN gets short end of the stick". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 10 September 2018.