BN wins Hulu Selangor

KUALA KUBU BARU, April 25 - Barisan Nasional’s (BN) P Kamalanathan has won a hard-fought Hulu Selangor by-election in what will be seen as a boost for Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s administration, but Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is expected to take heart from the close margin. BN won today’s poll by just 1725 votes, recouping spoilt votes which contributed to its defeat in Election 2008, but failing to convincingly bury a strong PR. Earlier today, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had set a target of winning by up to 6,000 votes as observers had noted that BN needed to win big after pulling out all the stops during the campaign to justify Najib’s personal involvement and its pork-barrelled spending.

The ruling coalition had thrown everything and the kitchen sink at the campaign in an attempt to to put it on track to recovery after a string of by-election defeats since Election 2008. BN had lost in all by-elections in the peninsular since 2008, except for its stronghold of Bagan Pinang in Negri Sembilan, which it retained in a by-election last October. In today’s vote, Kamalanathan obtained 24,997 votes while Zaid received 23,272. The results suggest BN and PR are still neck and neck in the battle for support from Malaysians, particularly in the peninsular. http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/lite/