PUTRAJAYA: The Kemaman parliamentary by-election loss by Barisan Nasional (BN) is not attributed to the rise of Pas supporters, BN chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today.
Zahid, who is also Umno president said it was instead due to the decrease of Umno loyal voters who had come out to vote.
"We saw a decrease of loyal voter turnouts for the Kemaman by-election of around 10,000 people.
"This meant that only 68.3 per cent of loyal voters had come out to vote which increased the majority seen in the votes for Pas."
Zahid also shot down the statement by Pas secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan saying the 37,000-vote majority won by Pas in the Kemaman parliamentary by-election is a referendum of the public's disapproval of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's leadership of the country.
"We cannot consider that a referendum (of the people) as it only consisted of only a small area in Kemaman.
"How can 141,000 voters in Kemaman be considered a referendum? We hope they are not daydreaming," he said at a press conference after the launching ceremony for the Polytechnic Transformation Programme 2023-2030, here.
On Saturday, Pas candidate Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar won the Kemaman parliamentary seat by-election.
Ahmad Samsuri, popularly known as Dr Sam among voters, secured 64,998 votes, while Barisan Nasional's General (Rtd) Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor bagged 27,778 votes.
Dr Sam who is also the Terengganu menteri besar and Pas vice-president, won by a 37,220 majority, surpassing the previous majority by 10,041 votes.