Barisan sets sights on reclaiming Selangor

BN leaders, buoyed by its victory in Hulu Selangor, are now talking about wresting Selangor - the country’s most industralised state - back from Pakatan Rakyat.

The  following are some reactions from both BN and Pakatan leaders in the aftermath of a dramatic tussle for the Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat, which the ruling coalition lost in the 2008 general election.  

Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, Kuala Selangor MP  (PAS)

Tonight’s result is a real wake-up call for Pakatan Rakyat. If we are serious about going to Putrajaya, this is an indication that we need to pull up our socks.

A post-mortem has to be conducted to determine what went wrong.

SK Devamany, Cameron Highland MP and deputy minister in prime minister's department (MIC)

This proves that MIC still has public support and is able to represent BN and the Indian community. The victory indicates that the public support the prime minister’s '1Malaysia' concept and his reforms.

M Kayveas, PPP president

I would like to extend my congratulations to the candidate and those who have worked hard. It shows BN is still relevant and proves that it is a myth that the opposition would win any by-election hands down.

This is a step forward and we are optimistic at recapturing Selangor in the next general elections. This shows that BN is willing to change (but) to maintain its success, BN needs to be sincere with its ‘1Malaysia’ concept.

M Saravanan, Tapah MP and deputy Federal Territories minister (MIC)

The results were a big victory and not to be underestimated. PKR is strong in the state, Selangor is theirs. They have given out so many land titles even before we did so, and our candidate was put in here at the last minute.

We will now work harder to ensure that victory is ours in the next round.

Hatta Ramli, Kuala Krai MP (PAS)

The elections were marred by open character assassinations by the BN-controlled media which Pakatan Rakyat was not strong enough to counter.

BN goodies to voters were also a major factor.

Mohd Khir Toyo, Selangor opposition leader (Umno)

The win was a good signal for Umno Selangor. I hope the momentum can be sustained and improved so we can wrest Selangor back from Pakatan.

The win also shows wide acceptance to Najib '1Malaysia' and government transformation programme (GTP). But BN has to work harder in getting the support of the Chinese voters.

Abdul Shukur Idrus, Umno Selangor information chief

It is clear that Malays have overwhelmingly supported Umno. It is also clear that the Chinese have yet to support MCA and BN. MCA and Gerakan need to do more for the next general elections.

Syed Husin Ali, PKR deputy president

BN has nothing to celebrate. PKR did not lose in Hulu Selangor. BN began with an advantage of over 6,000 votes from all three state seats it won in the parliamentary area during the last general election.

What with the amount of corrupt money, racial campaign and lies through the Malay media especially, Umno should be ashamed it won only by about 1,700 votes. PKR still managed to get more than 40 percent Malay votes although Umno expected to harness more than 70 percent. There was increase of support for PKR in the Felda areas.

Ibrahim Ali, Perkasa chief and Pasir Mas MP (Independent)

The victory shows that the people want peace and political stability. This is proof that the people welcome the leadership of Najib Razak as prime minister. It also proof that the people reject racial politics.

Only the Chinese community appeared to not feel indebted to the BN government. It is clear that the influence of MCA and Gerakan has been rejected by the Chinese community. The government has met all sorts of demands from the Chinese community and yet there is little reaction.

The attempts by certain parties to malign the good name of Perkasa in the Hulu Selangor by-election has failed to make any impact. The people are beginning to understand the propaganda and lies of Anwar Ibrahim and his supporters, and I am confident that the people will put the nation’s first.

N Ganesan, national advisor, Hindraf/Human Rights Party Malaysia
    
We have not obtained the complete details of the results but from what we have heard, a majority of the Indian voters of Hulu Selangor had cast their votes for BN. HRP and Hindraf had stayed completely neutral in this election, and this is entirely the Hulu Selangor people's decision.

Our political analyst Subramaniam Bharathy, at the outset of this election, had said that two clear conditions had to be met for PKR to win. They needed to field a credible Malay candidate and they needed to get endorsement from a strong Indian grassroots organisation like HRP for a clear win. PKR met one condition, but not the other. The results prove the veracity of that prediction.
 
Endorsement from HRP would have come had the leadership of the PKR heeded HRP's request  on the allocation of land to all the Tamil schools in Selangor that did not sit on their own land. PKR decided it was not worth the prize requested. That probably cost them this seat.
 
A 1,725-vote majority means that a swing of 865 votes the other way would have delivered victory to Zaid. This would have been more than achieved had P Uthayakumar gone in with the troops for one day.

We definitely want to see Umno go, but not to be replaced by a clone.