The people should not be blamed for their choice in the Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar Parliamentary seat by-elections, said BN strategic communications director Abdul Rahman Dahlan.          

Commenting on the statement by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in his blog that BN's victory in the by-elections were due to hand-outs and gifts to voters, Abdul Rahman said the accusations deemed the voters had no standing of their own.        

"I feel the people chose BN because it gave hope as a good party to their future generation, a guarantee to national security and was not based on certain issues only.   

"The accusations are off-target, illogical and baseless because they lost in the elections. He knew what he was doing, I feel he must accept that the people have made their choice, " Abdul Rahman, who is also the Minister of Urban Well-Being, Housing and Local Government, said when met after a programme to hand out bubur lambuk (rice porridge) at his ministry in Putrajaya today.      

He said voters in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar were matured enough and had their own stand on issues brought by Mahathir.

"They heard what Mahathir had to say and decided they did not believe all he said," Abdul Rahman said.      

BN scored a landslide victory in both the by-elections last Saturday, with Mastura Mohd Yazid winning by a majority of 6,969 votes in Kuala Kangsar and Budiman Mohd Zohdi securing a majority of 9,191 votes in Sungai Besar.    

- Bernama