PAS has admitted that it lost a portion of Malay votes during the Bukit Gantang parliamentary by-election held yesterday.

At a press conference today, Perak PAS deputy chief and elections director Asmuni Awi revealed that the party only secured 43 percent of the total Malay votes.

ismail saffian voting bukit gantang 070409 This is a significant drop from the estimated 47 percent of Malay votes obtained during the 2008 general election by then PAS candidate, the late Roslan Shaharom.

Asmuni attributed the drop to the fact that the Barisan Nasional candidate Ismail Saffian ( right ) was an established local boy and that it was an uphill task to penetrate rural areas.

"Bukit Gantang is an Umno stronghold. We have never made any inroads here since independence, until the last general election," he said, adding that the party only expected to bag 40 percent of the Malay votes.

Nevertheless, Asmuni vowed that the party will continue to explain to the Malay voters about issues raised by Umno during the campaign, namely the Chinese-stooge issue, the ' derhaka ' (treason) issue and the decision by the Pakatan Rakyat state government to grant freehold status to Chinese new villages.

Chinese votes to the rescue

Asmuni also revealed that the drop in Malay votes was offset by a large surge in Chinese votes, from 65 percent in 2008 to 75 percent in 2009.

"The Chinese have changed the way they look at us. Last time they were very afraid of PAS, but not anymore. They thought that we would Islamise them. But now they know PAS is more open than Umno.

"This is because of the performance of the Pakatan government over the past 10 months," he said.

Chinese voters constitute 27 percent or about 15,000 of the total 55,471 Bukit Gantang voters.

As for Indian votes, Asmuni said the party still obtained the majority of the community’s votes, though it was reduced marginally.

In all, Asmuni interpreted the election results as a sign that public perception of the party has changed dramatically.

"Public perception is that we are religious fundamentalists and a theological kampung party. Now, (the results show) we are a progressive party that can lead all races," he said.

Figures released by Asmuni also revealed that PAS made further inroads in the Kuala Sepetang and Changkat Jering state constituencies - both former Gerakan and Umno strongholds respectively - and chalked up notable increases in majority.

However, the party only managed a 66-vote increase in the Umno stronghold and rural state constituency of Trong.

In a related development, PAS spiritual leader and Kelantan Menteri Besar Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat said the victory reflected the people's acceptance of the "PAS for All" concept and that the party does not only cater for the Malays.

"Only the God knows, but PAS and the opposition now move one step ahead and closer to being accepted by non-Malays," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

On the same note, Nik Aziz did not deny that PAS victory was also contributed by sympathy votes.

Additional reporting by Kuek Ser Kuang Keng .