KUALA LUMPUR: Barisan Nasional (BN) has attributed its Nenggiri win to 10 factors, including Perikatan Nasional's (PN) overconfidence in Malay-Muslim support for their coalition, said Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir.
The BN secretary-general said PN's campaigns, which incited hatred and rejection towards Umno and its president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi; Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, and Pakatan Harapan (PH), were marked by significant arrogance throughout the campaign period.
He said the second factor was Tan Sri Annuar Musa's appointment as PN election director and his high-profile appearance, which provided BN with an advantage in strategising against them.
"For Umno members, Annuar's actions against BN and its leadership have been excessive and ungrateful, disregarding the contributions of Umno or BN to him over the years," he said in a statement today.
BN's decision to shift from large-scale rallies to smaller ones and programmes on 'taqarrub' (getting closer to Allah) also contributed to the coalition's victory, and the strong discipline as a team.
Zambry said teams from other states, who helped BN Kelantan campaign, worked hard and were not merely "election tourists."
"Fifth, the Orang Asli areas were given special attention by teams from states with Orang Asli community, such as Perak and Pahang.
"Although PN, using the Pas logo, set up camps in these areas, they failed to garner votes."
Datuk Seri Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub as Kelantan BN chief played an effective role, Zambry said, and was a very hands-on leader who prioritised discipline in the team.
He also said BN by-election director Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah gave sound advice on addressing voters in Nenggiri.
"The eighth factor is BN's candidate selection. Awie (Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani) provided a significant advantage to BN as he was already known in Nenggiri for his service.
"Ninth is PN's strategy of holding mega ceramah, talking about national politics that failed to make an impact in rural areas like Nenggiri, compounded by personal attacks and insults directed at PH and BN leaders."
The last winning factor, added Zambry, was the unresolved land dispute with the South Kelantan Development Authority, which was more important to voters than political issues like the Umno-DAP relationship.
"Thank you Nenggiri voters for choosing a new representative. May Awie emerge as a capable leader and representative of the new generation," he said.