Tanjung Piai a small referendum against Harapan, says Zahid

BN president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (above, right) said the Tanjung Piai by-election results is a "small referendum" of the leadership of Pakatan Harapan.

"This is seen in how Harapan was rejected by the voters in Tanjung Piai and this is a manifestation of an overall rejection.

"Even though this is not a referendum on a national level, it is a small referendum," Zahid, who is also the Umno president, said to reporters in parliament today.

Not only Chinese voters have returned to BN, he said, but young voters as well.

"Even though they (the voters) know there is no allocation for opposition MPs, for them (the voters), that is not as important as sending a message to the current government that it is not just about the manifesto. The government also has to think of the dissatisfaction not only of the Tanjung Piai people," he said.

Zahid also agreed with opposition leader Ismail Sabri (above), who had suggested parliament be dissolved in the wake of BN's landslide victory in Tanjung Piai.

"This is the stand of all the opposition lawmakers.

"To us, what happened in Tanjung Piai was a message, and that message should be understood clearly," he said.

However, he said there will not be any efforts from the opposition to push for a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"Not from us because we believe in democracy, and the due process of democracy has to be translated into the constitution and the Election Commission Act being followed," Zahid said.

On Saturday, BN's candidate Wee Jeck Seng, who is from MCA, had won by a whopping 15,086-vote majority by garnering 25,466 votes against Harapan's candidate Karmaine's 10,380 votes. - Mkini