PONTIAN, Nov 16 — Datuk Seri Wee Jeck Seng’s win in the Tanjung Piai by-election will be a starting point for Johor Barisan Nasional (BN) to uphold its principle of unity among its component parties, its Johor chief Datuk Hasni Mohammad said tonight.

He said the win by BN, through MCA’s candidate, was a significant victory for the coalition in the state.

"Yes, I believe the win will be an encouragement for [Johor BN] in facing the upcoming 15th general election.

"We will uphold this concept,” said Hasni at the sidelines of the official result announcement by the Election Commission (EC) at the Dewan Jubli Intan Sultan Ibrahim here tonight.

He was commenting on BN’s landslide victory over Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the Tanjung Piai by-election today, with a whopping majority of 15,086 votes.

Hasni was instrumental in BN’s successful Tanjung Piai by-election campaign for the past month.

The 60-year-old veteran politician is known as a respected figure in Johor politics where he is also both admired and feared by his adversaries.

Hasni, who is also the Johor Umno liaison chief and also the state Opposition leader, said that the election results was a message for the government of the day to take note of the rakyat’s interest.

"At the same time, we as the Opposition we will represent the ‘rakyat’ and also those who are downtrodden.

"As a responsible Opposition front, we will not forsake the ‘rakyat’ and continue to champion them,” said Hasni, who is also the Benut assemblyman.