KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 — DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang today said that one more week was needed to bring up the voting turnout by another 10 to 15 per cent, which could have swayed the results of the Melaka state election. 

He said that the Melaka state election had a lower voter turnout rate of 65.9 per cent than the Sabah general elections — which had a 66.6 per cent turnout, adding that many of the Barisan Nasional (BN) had been won by slim majorities. 

"12 seats with majorities of less than 1,000 votes, seven against Pakatan Harapan (PH) and five against Perikatan Nasional (PN)  —  showed that 21 seats won by Umno was not a foregone conclusion but the major role played by chance and confirmed doubts among the top Umno leaders up to the last minute that a major electoral victory was awaiting them.

"There was growing realisation that a vote in the Malacca General Election was important and that the voter should not surrender to disappointment, despondency, hopelessness and desolation that more institutional reforms and changes were not accomplished in the 22-month PH government, but another week was needed to bring out another 10 — 15 per cent of the voting turnout,” he said in a statement. 

However, the veteran politician said that there were upsides in their defeat at the Melaka state elections yesterday, namely the dedication of Melaka DAP state chairman Tey Kok Kiew. 

"Malacca DAP State Chairman, Tey Kok Kiew, who lost in the Bemban constituency, was a great example of dedication of the Malaysian First cause of the DAP, as he could have remained State Assemblyman if he stayed behind in the relatively safe seat of Bandar Hilir instead of allocating it to his political secretary and DAP Deputy leader, Leng Chau Yeng, who won with a 7,778-vote majority yesterday.

"What Kok Kiew had done was in the best DAP tradition,” he said. 

He said that Tey should be an example emulated by every DAP leader, adding that he himself have tried eight times to leave a safe Parliamentary seat to contest in a comparatively unsafe one, to which he has failed and won four times each. 

Yesterday, Barisan Nasional (BN) won the Melaka state election in a landslide victory, winning 21 out of the 28 seats in the state assembly. 

PH won five seats, while Perikatan Nasional (PN) won two seats.