The poor response towards an election campaign held by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim in Bagan Pinang has boosted the confidence of Barisan Nasional, according to Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.

NONE However, he said BN would not take the opposition lightly or decelerate preparations for the by-election although early indications point to a continuous support for BN.

Khairy said BN is confident of gaining the peoples support for the Oct 11 by-election although the opposition had been trying to wrest the Negeri Sembilan state seat.

"We know that an election campaign held by Anwar Ibrahim two or three days ago in Bagan Pinang had only received lukewarm support," he added.

BN still strong

Khairy said this was an indication that BN was still strong here "but we are not going to take things lightly and hope to put extra effort in our campaigns."

"There will be a big presence of the Youth, from Negeri Sembilan and other states," he added.

According to Khairy, reports from the Negeri Sembilan Umno liaison committee headed by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, was clear that the BN election machinery was ready at every stage.

The Bagan Pinang state seat fell vacant following the death of its incumbent assemblyperson, Azman Mohammad Noor (BN), on Sept 4.

The Election Commission had set Oct 3 for nomination and Oct 11 for polling.

The Bagan Pinang electoral roll consists of 13,664 registered voters, comprising 9,060 ordinary voters and 4,604 postal voters. - Bernama