Samsuri defended the seat for PAS as he defeated his Barisan Nasional rival, Raja Affandi Raja Noor, by 37,220 votes. He obtained 64,998 votes while Raja Affandi, a retired general and former defence forces chief, garnered 27,778 votes.

The margin is larger than the 27,179-vote majority obtained by PAS candidate Che Alias Hamid in the November 2022 general election (GE15). The victory was annulled by an election court in September over bribery claims.

Takiyuddin noted that Samsuri captured 70% of the votes yesterday, with Raja Affandi’s 30% share “significantly lower” than the votes obtained by both Pakatan Harapan and BN in GE15, when they won a combined 46,875 votes, or 41% of the total.

“Based on the substantial decline observed in Kemaman, the PH-BN coalition not only failed to gain new support but also lost the support it once enjoyed,” he said in a statement.

“This not only reaffirms the acceptance of Samsuri’s position as the Terengganu menteri besar, but also confirms the growing support for PN in the series of by-elections held after GE15.

“It is evident that the federal government continues to fail to gain the support and trust of the people even after a year in power.”

Takiyuddin also said the win proved that voters rejected the current federal government with its “allocation politics” and the “undignified tactics of Putrajaya to force and bully opposition MPs and state governments to support it”.

Five Bersatu MPs recently pledged support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his government, stating that they were doing so to gain constituency development funds.

Anwar has repeatedly called on the opposition to negotiate with deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof for such funds.

On Nov 3, PN chief whip Takiyuddin said the coalition did not continue negotiations with Fadillah as PN were requested to write in for the allocations, as well as make certain assurances.

However, the Kota Bharu MP did not clarify the assurances or promises requested by the government.