NATIONAL FRONT DEFEAT IN KUALA TERENGGANU IS NOT TOTALLY NAJIB FAULT

MALAYSIAN NATIONAL NEWS

KUALA LUMPUR - Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak should not be blamed for the Barisan Nasional (BN) defeat in the Kuala Terengganu by-election.
"Some voters did not support BN because they do not like the candidate," he said when asked to comment on polls where Mohd Abdul Wahid Endut from PAS won.
Dr Mahathir said the voters had to choose between the BN candidate and Pas' and they finally picked the Pas candidate.
"They also do not like Pas but they were forced to choose," he said.
Najib who is BN deputy chairman led the coalition's election machinery.
Meanwhile Dr Sivamurugan Pandian, a senior lecturer at Universiti Sains Malaysia's school of social science saw the failure of BN in retaining the seat in Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat by-election should open the eyes of BN leaders on the need to implement changes to restore the people's support.
The second defeat in as many by-elections, the first being in Permatang Pauh in August, ought to raise the red flag, warning the party not to remain in its comfort zone.
"The BN had also performed badly in the 1999 general election and if the voters really wanted to reject the BN, they could have done so in the 2004 general election. But they still voted for the BN.
"So it is still not too late for the BN to change and regain its position," he told Bernama.
Source: BERNAMA