His challengers were Abdullah Mahadi (PN-Bersatu) who polled 1,382 votes and Mohamad Asri Ibrahim (PH-PKR) who secured 1,155 votes.

Barisan Nasional (BN) is reported to have secured 19 seats in the 28-seat state assembly for a two-third majority.

The election had been triggered after Sulaiman’s government lost its majority with the withdrawal of support of four assemblymen.

They alleged that he was a puppet of Melaka Umno chief Ab Rauf Yusoh, who was the speaker of the previous assembly.

He was named as BN’s prospective candidate to be chief minister on Thursday at the unveiling of the BN manifesto.

Sulaiman had been a member of the BN state government of 2013-2018 led by Idris Haron, and became chief minister in March last year as the head of an Umno-PN government formed after the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government.

However, Idris and three other assembly members withdrew support for his government in October, causing it to lose its state assembly majority.