Shahril Hamdan said the opposition coalition’s tactic in attacking the government without spelling out its own agenda was a misstep as it led to support in many areas remaining stagnant.

“It’s as if they are only waiting for Putrajaya to slip up and for the public to be triggered.

“But this merely allowed the government to set the agenda,” the former Umno information chief said in the latest episode of Keluar Sekejap, a podcast he co-hosts with former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.

In the Aug 17 by-election, Barisan Nasional reclaimed the state seat in Kelantan with a 3,352 vote-majority. BN also won 17 out of 20 polling stations.

Shahril said PN’s approach was no longer relevant when taking into account the current public sentiment – people were fed-up with the changes in government.

He was alluding to PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin who had repeatedly touched on the prime minister’s appointment after the last general election while on the campaign trail.

“And this is why even though the unity government is not that great or well-liked, it is still ahead of PN.”

Meanwhile, Khairy felt that PN’s loss was due to the coalition taking the Malay-majority Nenggiri seat for granted.

PN, he said, forgot that the constituency was once an Umno stronghold. Nenggiri had been won by BN in four consecutive elections since 2004 before PN won it last year.

“And they assumed that because it is a Malay-majority seat, they would win.”

Khairy also said the manner in which PN’s election director Annuar Musa responded to criticism of his attire might have affected voter sentiment.

“It became a hot topic during the campaign period. He should have refrained from responding ‘my money, my style’.”

Annuar had been criticised for wearing designer shirts, which cost thousands of ringgit, when campaigning in an Orang Asli village.

He later defended his fashion choice at a ceramah, saying it was up to him to wear what he wanted as he had bought it with his money.