ALOR STAR: Kedah Umno information chief Datuk Shaiful Hazizy Zainol Abidin has singled out Muafakat Nasional chairman Tan Sri Annuar Musa as the cause of Perikatan Nasional's heavy defeat in the Nenggiri by-election yesterday.
Shaiful said with Annuar as PN's operations director for the Nenggiri by-election, the coalition delivered its worst performance in a by-election since the 15th General Election.
"Before this, although PN lost in by-elections like those in Pulai and Simpang Jeram, they managed to either maintain or improve their vote share. However, the opposite happened in Nenggiri.
"Based on yesterday's results, PN's vote share in that seat dropped from over 50 per cent last year to 38 per cent. PN failed to maintain, let alone improve, their vote share.
"This PN defeat should be attributed to the PN by-election operations director for Nenggiri, Annuar," he said in a statement today.
Shaiful sarcastically said PN should have taken a more strategic approach by keeping Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor as their director for the by-election.
"With Sanusi as the director, voters in Nenggiri would have been more entertained by the 'tall tales' he shares during his campaign tours.
"Sanusi and his 'stories' have a strong track record with PN in previous by-elections, especially when compared to a director campaigning with a Louis Vuitton bag in Nenggiri," he added.
Meanwhile, Shaiful congratulated Barisan Nasional candidate Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani on securing a large majority of 3,372 votes.
In yesterday's polls, Azmawi garnered 9,091 votes, while PN's candidate Rizwadi Ismail obtained 5,739 votes.