BUTTERWORTH: The Barisan Nasional's Permatang Pauh by-election candidate Datuk Arif Shah Omar Shah had a good night's sleep yesterday. The best, he said, in the last two weeks.

He slept from about 2am yesterday to about 9.30am. After he was named the BN's candidate, he had been having a maximum of just five hours of sleep a day, often very much less.

"I felt good today. I feel at ease, without having to rush around here and there. It was a hectic period," he said, relaxing over breakfast at his house in Seberang Jaya yesterday.

He said he had accepted his defeat at the hands of Parti Keadilan Rakyat de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Tuesday as "the verdict of the people".

His wife, Datin Latifah Asrawi, was clearly relieved that the by-election was over and that the family could get back to the normal business of life.
She joined Arif in chatting about the by-election and how good it was to get good sleep.

His son, Izwan Shah, also joined in, saying the family accepted the defeat. He had worked for his father in the 2004 and 2008 general elections but this by-election was very much more tense, he said.

Anwar received 31,195 votes and Arif 15,524. The third candidate, Angkatan Keadilan Insan Malaysia's Hanafi Hamat received 92 votes. Anwar secured a majority of 15,671 votes.

Arif Shah said: "I thought I would win the by-election. I never thought Anwar would enjoy such a big majority. But it does not mean they have rejected me. I think the voters were swayed by Anwar's ceramah and propaganda.

"The fact that I was selected to contest by the party leadership itself is an honour and I am proud of the trust the party has in me.

"I will continue to work for the people of Permatang Pauh and Seberang Jaya."

Asked why he received only about 15,000 votes when there were about 20,000 Umno members in Permatang Pauh and another 4,000 members in BN component parties in the constituency, he said not all party members could be located and that some were living elsewhere and might not have returned to vote.

He thanked Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Najib Razak, BN party leaders and the Permatang Pauh Umno election machinery for going all out during the campaign period. He said he was willing to work with Anwar to resolve the problems of the people.

Arif Shah said he had given staff manning his service centre a day off as they had been working non-stop since nomination day on Aug 16.