AYER KEROH: Perikatan Nasional (PN) has unofficially captured the Bukit Katil state seat from two-term Pakatan Harapan (PH) incumbent Adly Zahari in the 16th Melaka state election, according to Barisan Nasional’s (BN) election tally.
Based on BN’s unofficial count as of 8.40pm, PN candidate Muhammad Ridzuan Mohd Sarif (PAS) garnered 12,271 votes to take the constituency with a commanding majority of 5,584 votes.
The four-cornered contest also featured Bersama’s candidate Dr Aliza Che Amran and independent candidate Abu Bakar Sabudin.
Bukit Katil is one of the constituencies allocated to PN under the Muafakat Melaka electoral pact—a political cooperation agreement signed between BN and PN on Oct 29 ahead of the state polls.
Under the pact, which also brings together supporting non-governmental organisations including Muafakat Nasional, BN contested 22 of the 28 state seats while PN fielded candidates in the remaining six constituencies without three-cornered clashes between the two coalitions.
The upset ends a two-term hold on Bukit Katil by Adly, who is also Amanah vice-president and Alor Gajah MP.
Adly first won the seat in the 2018 general election with a 3,159-vote majority before defending it in the 2021 state polls with a narrower 1,057-vote margin.
Located under the Hang Tuah Jaya parliamentary constituency, Bukit Katil has 35,359 registered voters, comprising roughly 64.8 per cent Malay, 28.7 per cent Chinese, 4.7 per cent Indian, and 1.8 per cent other voters.
Official results are expected to be delivered by the Election Commission (EC) at midnight.