DAP's victory in the Raub parliamentary constituency was due to the party playing with racial sentiments by fielding a Malay candidate, claimed Umno acting deputy president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He claimed that DAP had fed into the desire for a Malay MP amongst the local constituents, whereas BN wanted to honour the power sharing arrangement between its component parties.

“We know that DAP stoked the flames of racial sentiments. They observed that Malays in Raub want a Malay candidate; whereas we appreciate our partners from MCA, Gerakan, and other parties.

“Even when (MCA's) Ng Yen Yen was the MP, they had been observing this, hence they made the decision to field a Malay candidate on the DAP ticket, who used to be a local leader. Their aim was to split the Malays.

“Their theory was proven correct when a Malay candidate won because they were playing with the Malay’s sentiments,” he said during his officiating speech at the Raub Umno division delegates' meeting today, which was aired live on his Facebook fan page.

DAP had fielded Malay candidates in Raub during the 2008 and 2013 general elections.

During the 2008 election, DAP’s Abu Bakar Lebai Sudin was defeated by the MCA’s incumbent Ng by 2,752 votes.

In 2013, however, the former Umno leader and DAP candidate Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz defeated his MCA opponent by 2,814 votes.