Dato’ Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi hugs a victorious Jack Seng, November 16, 2019. — Picture by Ben Tan

PONTIAN, Nov 16 — Barisan Nasional (BN) just announced that it has won the Tanjung Piai by-election here, claiming that it has secured 75 per cent of the votes.

It is a frenzy at the BN Command Centre in Jalan Umno here as political leaders such as Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and MCA candidate Datuk Seri Wee Jeck Seng hugged each other.

Embattled former coalition chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak arrived to join the celebration not long after, to chants of “Malu apa bossku!”

The crowd also chanted to thank voters: “Terima kasih, Terima kasih Tanjung Piai!”

Barisan Nasional leaders await the Tanjung Piai by-eelction result at the Barisan Nasional Command Centre, November 16, 2019. — Picture by Ben Tan

As at 8.30pm, unofficial results released by the Election Commission (EC) showed that BN is leading in the Tanjung Piai by-election so far, trouncing Pakatan Harapan (PH) by a majority of 14,123 votes.

BN has now garnered 23,261 votes compared to PH’s 9,498 votes.

Keputusan Yang Belum Disahkan Pilihan Raya Kecil P.165 Tanjung Piai, Johor#PRKTanjungPiai pic.twitter.com/c8dBWGGgkp — Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya Malaysia (@sprgovmy) November 16, 2019

Earlier at 4pm, the EC announced that voter turnout was at 70 per cent, or roughly 36,888 out of the 52,698 registered voters.

At over 20,000 votes, BN has already crossed the simple majority line.

In the 14th general election, PH’s late Datuk Dr Farid Md Rafik had won with a slim majority of merely over 524 votes.

The EC is expected to announce the official results soon.