Anwar's wife triumphs in by-election

She defeated ruling coalition Barisan Nasional’s Chew Mei Fun with 5,379 vote majority.

This is less than the 6,824 majority which PKR’s Lee Chin Cheh secured in a six-cornered fight during the 13th general election.

Election Commission chairman Aziz Mohammed Yusof declared that Wan Azizah secured 16,741 votes while Chew garnered 11,362 votes.

There were 176 spoilt votes.

A smiling Wan Azizah was earlier seen entering the main tallying centre at the Kajang municipal council sports complex with her husband Anwar Ibrahim and PKR deputy president Azmin Ali.

After she was declared the winner, Wan Azizah hugged her daughters including Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah while Anwar was seen putting his arms around her as he congratulated his wife.

Voter turnout was 72 per cent or 28,314 – lower than during the last general election which was at 88 per cent.

Kajang has 39,728 voters including 1,197 advance voters comprising security personnel.

The by-election was held following Lee’s sudden resignation – eight months after he was elected in the May 5 polls.

Dubbed as the “Kajang Move”, the polls was seen as an attempt to secure a place for Anwar in the Selangor state assembly, which would then pave the way for him to become the chief minister.

However, he lost his eligibility to stand after the Court of Appeal on March 7 overturned his acquittal for sodomy charges and sentenced him to jail.

Wan Azizah became the replacement candidate.