KUALA LUMPUR – The Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional (PH-BN) alliance prevented the green wave in the recent state polls by obtaining 0.25% more votes than Perikatan Nasional (PN), said Umno information chief Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
In a statement today, she said the unity government managed to garner 3,399,472 votes, equivalent to 49.58%.
In contrast, PN fell slightly behind by about 17,000 votes as the coalition swept 3,382,455 (49.33%) votes.
“Decades as political foes, eight months as the unity government, and united for the first time in an election, we got through it successfully and achieved unique and positive results among the grassroots.
“This has set aside political differences in the name of unity,” said the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform).
“Certainly, this was possible because the unity government was formed to uphold the king’s decree, who wanted to prioritise the people and country.
Azalina said the state polls were the PH-BN coalition’s first test as an alliance, and many aspects still require extensive refining and studying.
She agreed that the unity government should scrutinise and improve its selection of candidates, machinery, manifestos, policies, and campaign agendas ahead of the 16th general election.
She added that there is no need to point fingers, and the coalition must double down on ensuring its aspiration of unity is clarified.
Azalina said Pakatan maintained its power in Selangor, Negri Sembilan, and Penang, and BN – which was not part of a state government in the last term – has now formed one.
“The unity government will also consider every feedback for BN to improve its performance, approaches, and implementation of services for the people,” said Azalina, while thanking the voters for their support. – August 14, 2023