Nenggiri is Anwar’s big win, says 'surprised' Zaid

Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim has described BN’s victory in Nenggiri as Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's "win".

Taking to X, Zaid (above, left) said the coalition's win in Nenggiri came as a surprise as he predicted that Perikatan Nasional (PN) would clinch a narrow victory.

"What a surprise. What does this result mean? The significance is huge.

"Anwar is the preferred leader," he said.

Yesterday, BN’s Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani trounced PN’s Mohd Rizwadi Ismail by bagging 9,091 votes as opposed to the latter’s 5,739 for the Nenggiri polls.

It was PN’s biggest defeat as it was their worst by-election performance since the 15th general election (GE15).

The total number of ballots received also declined 53.3 percent in the state election last year to 38.7 percent and it was the first time since GE15 that a seat has changed hands.

What exactly motivated the flip towards BN is unclear for now.

Elaborating, Zaid said the win was partly due to Anwar’s move to increase civil servants’ salaries.

He added that the prime minister’s policies to improve development in Kelantan and his steadfast support for the Palestinian cause may have endeared the government to the voters.

PAS-Bersatu ties may weaken

Taking a swipe at PN, the former minister said ties between PAS and Bersatu may weaken further due to their poor electoral showing.

"What now about the PAS/Bersatu alliance? It will grow weaker by the day.

"Without power and money, what politics can you talk about? Their strong performance was during the days when Muhyiddin was prime minister.

“Besides, PN has got nothing to offer now except for lamenting the fact that they were not chosen to form the government in the first place,” Zaid added.

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