Kak Som, Dira Abu Zahar among five women winners in Melaka

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 -- The oldest candidate, Datuk Kalsom Nordin, and celebrity Datuk Khaidirah Abu Zahar were among the five women winners in the Melaka state election today.

A total of 16 women candidates contested in the election, of which four Barisan Nasional’s (BN) candidates and one Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate managed to secure a seat.

Kalsom, 68, better known as 'Kak Som' snatched the Pengkalan Batu seat from incumbent  Datuk Norhizam Hassan Baktee, known by the nickname ‘YB Viral’, who contested as an independent candidate.

She won a majority of 131 votes, defeating PH’s Muhamad Danish Zainudin, Mohd Azrudin Md Idris (Perikatan Nasional), Dr Mohd Aluwi Sari (Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia - Putra) and Norhizam.

Meanwhile, Khaidirah or fondly known as Dira, who is the daughter of the eighth Melaka Chief Minister, the late Datuk Seri Abu Zahar Ithnin, won the Rim seat with a majority of 1,874 votes.

She defeated Azalina Abdul Rahman (PN-Bersatu) and B. Prasanth Kumar (PH-PKR).

BN candidates in Sungai Rambai Siti Faizah Abdul Azis and Tuminah Kadi (Pantai Kundor) also won with a majority of 1,137 and 827 votes respectively.

Besides that, Leng Chau Yen of PH won with a huge majority of 7,778 in a four-cornered battle.

Meanwhile, all 22 independent candidates conceded defeat in their quest to woo Melaka voters.

The only candidate from Perikatan India Muslim Nasional (Iman) Abdul Aziz Osani Kasim (Machap Jaya) and all five candidates from Putra also lost in this election.

-- BERNAMA