KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 — DAP’s Sandakan by-election win is a clear "a knockout blow’’ to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and a rejection of his "Malu apa bossku” campaign, Lim Kit Siang said today.

This follows after DAP Vivian Wong polled 16,012 votes, trumping her closest rival, Datuk Linda Tsen from Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), who garnered 4,491 votes, according to unofficial vote counts.

Lim added that Vivian had even surpassed her late father, Stephen Wong’s record, who won with a majority of 10,098 votes in the 14th General Election.

"Even more important, Vivian Wong’s victory in the Sandakan by-election is a national turnaround, wiping out the three Pakatan Harapan by-election defeats of Cameron Highlands, Semenyih and Rantau and a knockout blow to former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s shameless ‘Malu Apa Bossku’ campaign,’’ he said in a statement.

Kit Siang was responding to Najib’s newfound public persona whereby he has styled himself into a people’s champion and even becoming a fervent critic and troll against the Pakatan Harapan administration.

Najib had made several appearances in the Semenyih, Rantau and Cameron Highlands race in a bid to shore up support for BN, which won all three by-elections.

Yesterday, he made an appearance in Sandakan along with Sabah Umno chairman Datuk Bung Moktar Radin and even holding an impromptu concert to entertain the locals.

At the time of writing, unofficial votes also show that three other independent candidates for the race, former Sabah Amanah chairman Hamzah Abdullah, former palm oil plantation operations manager Chia Siew Yong and former Sandakan Parliamentary assistant Sulaiman Abdul Samad earning  515 votes,105 votes and 79 votes respectively.