Kedah BN chairperson Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipa said Pakatan Rakyat’s five year rule of the state with its “all sorts of nonsense” have caused the rakyat to reject the coalition in yesterday’s polls.

He said the BN's victory in 19 state seats shows that Kedahans have lost confidence in PAS and Pakatan.

NONE “The people have seen and felt what the five years of (Pakatan) rule was like, where all sorts of nonsense had taken place. For certain, they would give the state back to BN,” he told a press conference last night.

The Bakar Bata assemblyperson was announcing the formation of the BN Kedah government after polls results were finalised.

Expressing thanks, he said he hopes the opposition can accept their loss just as Umno had accepted theirs in 2008.

He added that BN had initially expected nine or 10 state seats but were thankful for the results, especially after losing five out of the 15 parliamentary seats contested.

“So our estimates were pretty accurate,” he said, while admitting that the Kedah Chinese support for BN was poor.

The ruling party lost the  Pokok Sena, Kuala Kedah, Alor Setar, Sungai Petani and Padang Serai parliamentary seats, all of which had large Chinese voter populations of 17 to 28 percent.

Mukhriz: No racial polarisation before

In a separate press conference, his deputy Mukhriz Mahathir said the new Kedah government will take a serious look at the alleged “racial polarisation” of voters such as had been bandied about by various BN leaders such as BN chief Najib Razak.

NONE “Before this there was no such thing... so we don’t want polarisation. And I am confident BN will always look after their (the Chinese’) needs,” he said.

Pakatan’s loss in the tightly fought race yesterday is Mukhriz’s gain, as he bags his highly coveted menteri besarship .

“We must always be tolerant, must compromise, and cannot take everything. In Kedah, we will give our attention to this serious matter,” he said.

The incoming MB said it will take at least a week for the new state exco lineup to be finalised.