BINTULU – Gabungan Parti Sarawak has successfully retained Jepak with its candidate Iskandar Turkee having been declared the winner of the by-election for the state seat tonight.
Election Commission returning officer Abang Zainuddin Abang Turkey announced the results at 8.30pm at the vote tallying centre in Dewan Suarah Bintulu here.
Iskandar, 54, a former director of the Sarawak branch of the National Anti-Drug Agency, beat Parti Bumi Kenyalang candidate Stevenson Joseph Sumbang and Parti Aspirasi Rakyat Sarawak candidate Chieng Lea Phing with an 8,784-vote majority, after accumulating 9,638 votes against Stevenson’s 854 votes and Chieng’s 431 votes.
Voter turnout was 48.57% in a constituency with 22,804 voters, 22,761 of them ordinary voters and 43 police personnel.
The by-election was held following the death of six-term incumbent Datuk Talib Zulpilip on September 15. Talib won Jepak by a majority of 4.243 votes in the state election in 2021. – November 4, 2023