{
  "id": 17336204,
  "title": "4-way fight in Gadek, Bersatu drops out from race",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/31/4-way-fight-in-gadek-bersatu-drops-out-from-race",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-31T03:31:39.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2026/10/31/4-way-fight-in-gadek-bersatu-drops-out-from-race"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In the recent Melaka state election, the Bersatu party has decided to withdraw from the race for the Gadek seat, without formally announcing a replacement candidate. This development is expected to result in a four-way contest at the polls, with four different parties vying for the position.\n\nBersatu had initially announced Zamri Abu Bakar as their candidate for the Gadek seat. However, their decision to withdraw leaves the field open for other parties to compete. The Gadek constituency, located in Melaka, is a mixed seat with a significant majority of Malay voters (60%), followed by Chinese (20%) and Indian (17%) constituents.\n\nHistorically, the BN (Barisan Nasional) party has held the Gadek seat since its creation in 2004. However, in the 2018 state elections, the People's Alliance (PH) party managed to take the seat, which was later recaptured by BN in the November 2021 state election through the efforts of MIC’s Vice President Shanmugam, who won with a 559-vote majority in a heated six-cornered race.",
  "summary": "Bersatu did not nominate anyone to contest for the mixed seat despite announcing a candidate two days ago.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "New Straits Times",
        "title": "Melaka polls: Bersatu drops out of Gadek race",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/31/melaka-polls-bersatu-drops-out-of-gadek-race",
        "published": "2026-10-31T04:25:45.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}