MELAKA - Incumbent Khoo Poay Tiong surged into the lead in the battle for the Kota Melaka parliamentary seat after the first stage of vote counting.
Khoo, who won the seat under the Pakatan Harapan banner in the 14th general election in 2018, leads with 948 votes, ahead of Barisan Nasional's Kon Qi Yao with 388 votes, Perikatan Nasional's Suhaime Borhan with 265 votes and independent Nor Azlan Shah HAzali with nine votesm as of 7.30pm today.
Kota Melaka has been a DAP-PH stronghold since 1974, when former secretary general Lim Kit Siang won the seat, with the only interruption to their reign coming between 2004 and 2008, when BN-MCA's Wong Nai Chee won it in the 11th general election.