BN takes early lead as Ayer Kuning by-election results trickle in

SHAH ALAM – Barisan Nasional (BN) has taken an early lead in the Ayer Kuning by-election as initial vote tallies come in.

According to figures from BN’s command centre, the coalition has secured 557 votes, placing them ahead of Perikatan Nasional (PN) with 149 votes and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) with 27, a lead of 408 votes.

The unofficial totals, based on postal votes, early ballots, and the Kampung Raya polling district, indicate BN’s strong showing in the early phase of counting.

Umno Secretary-General Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki shared this momentum in a Facebook post, stating that BN was currently leading with a 359-vote majority.

In the three-cornered fight, BN's Dr Mohamad Yusri Bakir faces off against PN’s Abd Muhaimin Malek and PSM’s Bawani KS, who had previously contested in the 15th General Election (GE15) back in 2022.

Yusri reportedly received 480 votes from the early streams, outpacing his closest rival, Muhaimin, who secured 121 votes.

The Ayer Kuning seat was declared vacant following the death of its incumbent Ishsam Shahruddin on Feb 22 due to a heart attack.

Ishsam had won the seat in GE15 by defeating candidates from Pakatan Harapan (PH), PSM and Pejuang.

He won the seat with 9,088 votes, securing 38.73 per cent of the total votes, defeating several opponents, including Mohd Nazri Hashim from PH who received 6,875 votes (29.30 per cent), Muhammad Noor Farid Zainal (PN) with 6,812 votes (29.03 per cent), Bawani with 586 votes (2.50 per cent) and Maziah Salim from Pejuang with 105 votes (0.45 per cent).

Ishsam won with a majority of 2,213 votes and a voter turnout of 74.85 per cengt among 31,940 registered electors.

A total of 31,897 voters are registered for this by-election, with results from 62 remaining polling streams yet to be announced.