KUALA LUMPUR, May 5 — The success of retaining the Rompin parliamentary seat in Pahang reflects the continuous public trust and confidence in Barisan Nasional (BN) as a party that fights for the people, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.

As such, Muhyiddin said he would like to thank all the voters who had elected BN candidate Datuk Hasan Arifin in the Rompin by-election today.

Muhyiddin, who is also BN deputy chairman, said the BN, however, would carry out a post mortem over the reduced majority and defeats at several polling district centres in the by-election.

“The people have given the signal and BN must remain on alert,” he said in a statement following the announcement of BN’s victory in the by-election by the Election Commission (EC) tonight.

Hasan, 62, retained the seat for BN after winning with a majority of 8,895 votes. He obtained 23,796 votes, while his challenger PAS’ Nazri Ahmad, 40, secured 14,901 votes.

Muhyiddin, who is also BN election director for Permatang Pauh and Rompin by-elections, also expressed thanks and gratitude to BN election machineries at all levels who had worked very hard to ensure victory for BN’s candidate.

“I hope that Datuk Hasan will continue carrying out efforts initiated by Tan Sri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis in providing the best service for the people in Rompin and in further developing the constituency,” he said.

As for BN, the deputy prime minister said the party would remain committed to fulfilling all its promises made during the campaign for the by-election.

The by-election was held following the death of Jamaluddin in a helicopter crash in Semenyih, Selangor on April 4.

In the 13th general election held in May 2013, Jamaluddin retained the seat for the BN after defeating Dewan Muslimat PAS chief Nuridah Mohd Salleh with a majority of 15,114 votes. — Bernama