BARISAN Nasional’s win in Rantau shows that the people reject the Pakatan Harapan government, said victor Mohamad Hasan.

He urged BN to be an effective opposition and check PH’s governance at both the state and federal levels.

“We will check the PH government because we know they have significant weaknesses. The country is in an unstable and uncertain situation.

“The economy is deteriorating and the people are suffering,” the Umno acting president said after the Election Commission announced his win tonight.

“We need an opposition team comprising BN, PAS and other parties in Parliament and state assemblies, to be a check and balance to the government, which has been ruling for about year and has been regressive.

“We’re not going forward. We’re going backwards.”

He cited young voters’ support as key to his win, saying youth voiced their dissatisfaction with the PH administration through the ballot box.

“The results clearly show that the channels we were afraid of, like youth, were the ones that pushed us to victory.

“Youth are dynamic, not static, and they observe. They’re sensitive to their surroundings, especially when it comes to politics.

“They are aware that they had bought into PH’s promises, but today, not one has been fulfilled.”

He added that the people are getting tired of the ruling pact’s blame game.

“People are growing tired of the politics of slander, blaming others… it leads to nowhere.

“There were non-stop attacks (during the campaign) against Najib as though he was the candidate,” he said, referring to former prime minister and BN chairman Najib Razak.

Asked whether Umno is worried about more of its lawmakers joining Bersatu, he said: “Why should they jump to Bersatu? Umno and BN are getting stronger. Why should they? If I were MP, I would never join (Bersatu).”

Mohamad won Rantau with a 4,510-vote majority over PH’s Dr S. Streram and two independents.

It is BN’s third straight by-election win this year, after Cameron Highlands and Semenyih.

There have been seven by-elections in total since the general election last May. – April 13, 2019.