The BN chairman said it was to be expected from the type of campaign run by the opposition for the state seat in Pahang over the past two weeks.

“If any by-election candidate has slander thrown against them (on the campaign trail), it will definitely affect (BN’s) majority,” he told reporters at Dewan Tunku Canselor, Universiti Malaya.

However, he said it was more important to note that BN’s victory in Pelangai was not a small one.

“We are thankful to the BN leadership and also our friends from the other parties in the unity government,” Zahid said.

On Saturday, BN’s Amizar Abu Adam, 53, won the by-election with a 2,949-vote majority after garnering 7,324 votes, defeating Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Kasim Samat (who obtained 4,375 votes) and independent candidate Haslihelmy DM Zulhasni (47).

Following the announcement of the result, PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin said BN had yet to make any gains despite winning the Pelangai by-election, as the majority was lower compared with GE15 last November.

He said the results continued to prove there is no vote transferability between Pakatan Harapan and BN.

Muhyiddin added that PN had done better than in GE15, gaining 1,115 votes in the by-election, while BN saw its majority reduced from 4,048 votes in the general election to 2,949 in the by-election.