Umno president and BN chairman Najib Razak, celebrating the BN’s victories, flung the by-election results back in the face of his chief critic, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who has led a year-long campaign against him.
During the campaign, he had likened Najib to the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin of the 1970s, whose regime was noted for his extreme cruelty, repression and corruption.
“He called me the Idi Amin of Malaysia,” said Najib and went on to point out that “the Idi Amin of Malaysia is more popular” than Dr Mahathir, who had urged voters to reject the Barisan Nasional candidates in order to show that Malaysians rejected Najib.
Dr Mahathir, who was prime minister and Umno president for 22 years, joined the opposition campaign in Sungai Besar, Selangor, and Kuala Kangsar, Perak, and endorsed the candidates from Parti Amanah Negara.
Last year Dr Mahathir tried to persuade MPs to bring down Najib’s government through a confidence vote in the Dewan Rakyat, which was described as an attempted constitutional coup.
Last night, Najib described the BN twin victories as “a coup” against Mahathir’s campaign, with voters in both constituencies having returned BN candidates with larger majorities than in 2013 and the ruling coalition amassing more votes in each seat than the combined opposition share.
With the failure of the attempted coup in Parliament, Dr Mahathir has since embarked on a petition campaign with a million signatures to appeal to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Rulers’ Conference to dismiss Najib’s government.
Last night, Najib said: “The rakyat have rejected Mahathir. The rakyat have rejected the Citizens’ Declaration.”
Najib pledged to resist Mahathir until the very end. He said the people could not rely on a 91-year-old man — a man without pride, he said. “He used to spit on the face of others now he’s swallowing his own spit.”
Election Results
Sungai Besar: Budiman Mohd Zohdi (BN) received 16,800 votes – 2,200 votes more than the combined opposition share of 14,511, comprising 7,609 for Azhar Abdul Shukur (Amanah) and 6,902 for Dr Abdul Rani Osman (PAS).
At the 2013 general election, the late Noriah Kasnon, a three-term MP, was narrowly returned by a majority of 399 votes against the PAS candidate. Noriah died in a helicopter crash last month, causing the by-election to be called. The MP for Kuala Kangsar, Wan Mohammad Khair-il Anuar Wan Ahmad, was also killed in the crash.
Kuala Kangsar: Wan Khair-il’s widow, Mastura Mohd Yazid (BN), was returned to his seat last night, polling 12,653 votes, a majority of almost 7,000 over her closest rival. Dr Najihatussalehah Ahmad (PAS) received 5,684 votes; Prof Dr Ahmad Termizi Ramli (Amanah) 4,883; Izat Bukhary Ismail Bukhary (independent) 54.
In 2013, Wan Khair-il secured a majority of only 1,082 votes against the PAS candidate. At last night’s election, the vote for Barisan Nasional (12,653) was 2,032 votes more than the combined opposition share (10,621).