He said Mahathir took a serious view of the by-election and would turn up on Friday to campaign for PH.

“The prime minister usually does not take part in small campaigns like this, but he clearly feels that this by-election is important.

“Since we are contesting here, surely the community and voters want to hear the message from him as the prime minister,” he told reporters after performing the maghrib and ishak prayers at the Sungai Koyan mosque here yesterday.

Mahathir is scheduled to be there from 11am to 2pm today, to meet the people of Sungai Koyan at Dataran Sungai Koyan 1 before ending his trip by performing the Friday prayers at the Al-Muhajirin mosque.

When asked about claims by Pahang PKR chairman Fuziah Salleh that tok batin or Orang Asli chiefs in the villages had been “kidnapped” by certain parties, thus hampering PH’s campaigns in their settlements, Muhyiddin said no investigation had been launched since no police reports were lodged.

“During campaigning, all kinds of things can happen. But if there is no proof and no basis, or even reports lodged with the authorities, no investigation can take place.

“So we do not know the actual situation,” said Muhyiddin, who is also the home minister.