'Najib factor helped BN win'

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is widely seen as "the winning factor" in Barisan Nasional's retention of power in the 13th General Election yesterday.

The BN chairman's transformation agenda, introduced after he became prime minister in 2009, gave the people a new hope of moving Malaysia towards becoming a high-income economy.

Nevertheless, it was not without a hard-fought political battle that Najib secured his first mandate from the people that gave the BN 133 seats in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat.

The Pakatan Rakyat garnered 89 seats, divided among its allies DAP (38), PKR (30) and PAS (21).

Najib himself retained the Pekan parliamentary seat in Pahang with a majority of 35,613 votes, higher than the 26,464 secured in the 2008 general election. He had secured 51,278 votes to the 15,665 votes of his opponent, Mohd Fariz Abd Talib alias Musa of the PKR.

The BN recaptured Kedah from Pakatan Rakyat but failed in its bid to wrest Penang, Kelantan and Selangor.

Pakatan Rakyat, despite putting up a strong fight, was unable to shake the BN in Sarawak, Sabah and Johor. The three states contributed 68 of their 82 seats to the BN.

The BN's overall victory can also be attributed to Najib's pledge to fulfil all the coalition's electoral pledges, including continuing with the 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M) as well as other financial assistance for the needy.

Many voters did not differentiate between Najib and the BN. For them, Najib was the BN and the BN was Najib.

Najib also won over the hearts of many with his ability to endear himself to people regardless of age and community and with his extraordinary style of approaching the young, many of whom voted for the first time in a general election.