Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim today conceded that the internal problems in Selangor, including the controversy surrounding the sale of alcohol, had an impact on the Bagan Pinang by-election in Negeri Sembilan.

However, the PKR supreme council member believed that the effect was minimal.

NONE Quizzed on this during a press conference in Subang Jaya, he said: "The impact was small compared to the efforts by the federal government to flood the voters with goodies."

"We accept the fact that the voters in Bagan Pinang have decided who they want as their representative.

"This time (as opposed to previous by-elections), things were different and this could have been caused by local issues as well," he added.

In Sunday's by-election, Barisan Nasional's Isa Samad had trounced PAS' Zulkefly Mohamad Noor with a majority of more than 5,000 votes.

On Tuesday, PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail also said that issues faced by Pakatan Rakyat in Selangor may have had a detrimental effect on their image leading up to the polls.

"Pakatan received bad press due to issues in Selangor, like the beer issue. While these issues have been handled, the perception remains that Pakatan has not gotten its act together," she added.

Political pundits had also noted that Chinese voters in the state constituency cast their ballots against the PAS candidate because they were fed up with the infighting in Selangor.

Free services and 'alms'

Meanwhile, Khalid said throughout the entire campaign, the federal government had offered numerous services and ‘alms’ to the people of Bagan Pinang via its agencies.

"Those in the villages received free medical treatment. There were more doctors than patients... alms in the form of rice and so forth were given. This made a big impact," he added.

NONE Furthermore, he said local issues and the popularity of Isa, a former Negeri Sembilan menteri besar, also swayed votes in favour of BN.

Khalid said Pakatan Rakyat will analyse the reasons behind the defeat which comes after the opposition coalition had won seven by-elections in a row.

"We are analysing why the voters changed, what prompted them to alter their views," he added.

Since the end of last year, Selangor Pakatan has been rocked by problems between PAS and DAP, which started over the control of the sale of alcohol in the state.