For the next few days, and beginning with the Umno annual general meeting tomorrow, there will be speeches that the party and Barisan Nasional are on the road to revival with the handsome victory in the Bagan Pinang by-election on Sunday.

bagan pinang by election nomination 031009 muhyiddin yasin Already Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin, who led the well-oiled BN election machinery, has claimed that Malay, Chinese and Indian support have returned to the party.

His opinion was based on the fact that BN's Isa Samad trounced PAS in all eight polling districts, including the three Indian-predominated estates in the state seat of Negri Sembilan.

"I hope this will (be) transform(ed) into a new wave of political support for BN and Umno, after only managing one victory in eight by-elections (since the last general election)," he said.

"It is a sign of Umno and BN's revival, and the BN hopes the people will continue to support us."

His sentiments were echoed by two Umno vice-presidents, Hishammuddin Hussein and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Even Isa said his focus was not on winning back a post in the state exco, but to make sure that Umno and BN registered victory in Bagan Pinang.

"This victory is similar to those of 1982, 1986 and 1990, when Umno and BN (received) the support of the people," he said.

He went into the by-election without the blessings of such stalwarts as former Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohamad and veteran leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

Isa was found guilty of money politics after winning the Umno vice-presidency in 2004 and subsequently suspended for three years.

His selection as Bagan Pinang candidate sent mixed signals to members of the public, given the government's emphasis on eradicating corruption in public life.

This issue will be revisited during the Umno extraordinary general meeting on Thursday, when close to 2,540 delegates will vote on the abolition of the quota system in the nomination of candidates to party posts. The system is said to have facilitated vote-buying.

Members will now consider the party's sincerity in curbing money politics. Previously, it had barred Malacca Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam from contesting the deputy presidency, and let off Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin with a stern warning.

What went wrong for PAS?

While Umno works out the kinks in its election process, Pakatan Rakyat - and specifically PAS - will have to provide credible answers for its loss in Bagan Pinang.

Although the seat is a BN stronghold, the PAS candidate's objective should have been to target a reduction of the majority vote at the very least.

PAS failed dismally, after achieving wins in five by-elections to date, including a tremendous victory in Permatang Pasir last month.

Pakatan had invited its big guns like PKR's Anwar Ibrahim, PAS' Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat and Abdul Hadi Awang, and DAP's Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng, but their presence at the nightly ceramah in Bagan Pinang did not register much of an impact.

The opposition coalition did, however, improve its election machinery, displaying better co-operation and co-ordination among the three allies.

So, was the choice of PAS Negri Sembilan commissioner Zulkefli Mohamad Omar a reason for the loss, by a larger majority of some 5,000 votes? He was not seen to be media-savvy, despite his educational background in communications.

PAS director of elections Salahuddin Ayub has provided preliminary insight as to why Chinese and Indian voters have turned away from Pakatan.

NONE Some may have been disappointed by disagreements over recent policy-making in the Selangor government, with differences between Selangor PAS commissioner Hasan Ali and DAP's Ronnie Liu (left) having made the headlines.

Similarly, Guan Eng's handling of the Kampung Buah Pala fiasco in Penang could have seemed unsavoury to Indian Malaysians in Bagan Pinang.

Regardless of the respective outcomes in Bagan Pinang for BN and Pakatan, both now have another opportunity to address their shortcomings in the administration and party politics.

If nothing else, voters have demonstrated yet again that the electorate is not to be taken for granted.