KOTA BARU: A Pas leader says the Barisan Nasional's victory in yesterday's Mahkota by-election is not a sign that support has returned to the coalition as it was expected to retain the seat.
Pas vice-president Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said Mahkota is a BN stronghold and Perikatan Nasional contested the seat as underdogs.
"However, based on the results of the last state election and yesterday's by-election, we can see that we only lost a small number of votes this time and that is a moral victory for us," he said.
Mohd Amar was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an investiture ceremony at Istana Balai Besar here today in conjunction with the 55th birthday of the Sultan of Kelantan, Sultan Muhammad V.
In yesterday's by-election BN's Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah won the Mahkota seat with an over 20,000 vote majority in a straight fight against PN's Mohamad Haizan Jaafar.
Mohd Amar said support for any party or coalition could not be properly measured in a by-election.
He said although PN lost in by-elections before, it won many seats in the last general election.