The BN machinery should not be disappointed with the result of the Sungai Limau by-election despite losing the seat, because the majority votes obtained by the opposition were reduced.

NONEIn saying this in Paris, France, today, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassi added: "I wish to thank the entire BN machinery for their hard work in Sungai Limau, and despite not winning, we managed to reduce PAS' majority.

"This means the efforts undertaken by all party leaders and machinery have increased the support of voters for the BN," he told Malaysian journalists.

Muhyiddin said BN members at all levels should take lessons from the defeat and be prepared to work even harder in the future.

"The area, despite being touted as a PAS stronghold, has been penetrated by BN, and I am confident that a larger portion of those who gave us their votes were fence-sitters who may have supported the opposition but are drawn to us, this time around."

Muhyiddin said the support of the Chinese community in the area had also improved as compared with the general election in May, based on the results of the Polling District Centre.

"I am confident that during our campaign, we managed to repel all sorts of propaganda and attacks made by the opponents on national issues, that BN is corrupt or the growing inflation, and so on.

"Some of the issues relating to the 2014 Budget have been explained but I believe we need to continue the effort as the situation could change in future," he added.

He said BN might need to look at the aspect of campaign effectiveness and study the capability of the machinery, including from the angle of logistics, information and so on, in a by-election post-mortem.

On the performance of Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir, Muhyiddin said according to a report he received, voter acceptance of Mukhriz was excellent.

- Bernama