KUALA LUMPUR — Opposition party Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) candidate Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is hopeful that the results of the Rompin by-election will translate into more votes for her party in the Permatang Pauh parliamentary by-elections today.

Citing the unhappiness over the Goods and Services Tax (GST) introduced on April 1, Dr Wan Azizah sees the results in Rompin, where the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) triumphed albeit with a reduced majority compared to the 2013 general election, as a clear signal that a large portion of Barisan Nasional (BN) voters had lost faith in the ruling coalition and its component parties.

“Although in their (Rompin) campaign they had promised millions of ringgit in aid and development project, they could not increase support for themselves.

… Dr Oh Ei Sun, Senior Fellow of the Malaysia Programme at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, told TODAY that the results would “essentially be a test of whether the infighting in UMNO or PR affects (the voters’) minds more”.