PUTRAJAYA, Nov 5 — The result of the Sungai Limau state by-election, at a glance, shows an increase in the Chinese support for Barisan Nasional (BN), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

He said the results from the two ballot boxes where the majority of voters were Chinese, showed that they were in favour of BN candidate.

“At a glance, there is an increase, but we have to look further,” he told a press conference after attending the national Maal Hijrah celebration at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) here today.

The official result of the by-election yesterday saw PAS retaining the state seat with a 1,084-vote majority after its candidate, Mohd Azam Abd Samat, garnered 12,069 votes compared to BN candidate Dr Ahmad Sohaimi Lazim’s 10,985 votes.

Najib said despite having lost the contest, BN had displayed encouraging performance because it managed to reduce PAS’s majority in Sungai Limau which was regarded as PAS stronghold.

“Previously, (in the last general election,) we lost the contest for the seat by 2,774-vote majority, but now, we have reduced it to 1,084-vote majority.  It shows that there is a trend of increased support for BN.

“We know that the constituency is PAS’s stronghold because we have failed to win the seat in five general elections. However, in the by-election, we managed to penetrate 10 polling centres compared to PAS, which only managed nine,” he said.

Najib said he believed with PAS’s victory in Sungai Limau, the opposition pact would not blame the Election Commission (EC) as normally done when they lost.

“This shows that democracy and transparency are still alive in Malaysia and that the by-election process and result cannot be questioned,” he said.

The prime minister also thanked BN election machinery at the national level led by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, at state level led by Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Tun Dr Mahathir and divisional level led by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Jamil Khir Baharom.

“I would also like to thank the representatives of Kedah BN, Wanita, Youth and Puteri. It reflects a good teamwork between the state and divisions. These people have worked hard and displayed a good performance in BN,” he said. — Bernama