PERIKATAN Nasional (PN) chairman Muhyiddin Yassin said his coalition’s Kemaman by-election win made it clear Malay voters reject the Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional (PH-BN) alliance.

The Bersatu leader said PN’s increased majority was a clear sign of growing support for PAS in particular, which is part of PN.

“The result of the Kemaman by-election also confirmed the declining popularity of the PH-BN government.

“The people, especially Malays, reject the cooperation between these two parties,”

“The result of the Kemaman by-election is a string of BN voters’ rejection of the party’s cooperation with PH as has been observed in previous by-elections.

“This is a constant warning from voters to BN, especially Umno, to reassess its cooperation with PH,” Muhyiddin said in a Facebook post today.

Bersatu has seen five MPs declare support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his government in recent weeks.

In yesterday’s by-election, PAS’ Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar received 64,998 votes, defeating BN’s Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor (27,778 votes).

Samsuri claimed 70% of the ballots.

The by-election was after the Terengganu election court’s on September 26 nullified PAS candidate Che Alias Hamid’s victory in last year’s general election.

Muhyiddin said the votes BN received in the Kemaman polls were far lower than its previous results.

But the 93,289 voters who cast their ballots yesterday contributed to a turnout 18.5% lower than last November’s polls.

“This is a sign BN supporters have switched to PAS,” Muhyiddin said in the statement. – December 3, 2023.