BN's victory in Rompin by-election a respectable win - Hishamuddin

Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein described the Barisan Nasional's (BN) victory in the Rompin parliamentary by-election as a respectable win.

Hishammuddin, who is also BN director of operations for Rompin by-election, said although the majority garnered did not achieve the desired target, it was not a small number altogether as there were various issues raised by the opposition.

"We have to understand the different situation between general election and by-election, we have tried to lure voters to come out and cast their votes.

"When we do the post mortem, we will know...we will find the reason for the reduced majority," he told reporters after the announcement of the by-election's results here on Tuesday night.

BN's candidate Datuk Hasan Arifin won the by-election after securing 23,796 votes or 61 per cent of the votes cast, while his challenger, PAS' Nazri Ahmad, 40, garnered 14,901 votes or 39 per cent.

READ ALSO: BN wins Rompin by-election

The Rompin by-election was held following the death of incumbent Tan Sri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis in a helicopter crash in Semenyih, Selangor on April 4.

In the 2013 general election Jamaluddin retained the seat for the BN after defeating Dewan Muslimat PAS chief Nuridah Mohd Salleh with a majority of 15,114 votes.

Meanwhile, Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob said BN should be grateful for the victory despite the reduced majority.

Describing the result as satisfactory, Adnan said the reduced majority was also some kind of a 'message' which the Rompin voters were trying to convey to the government.

As such, he said the federal and state government should try to decipher the message and make the necessary changes so that better result could be recorded in the next general election.

"Maybe the message is related to Goods and Service Tax (GST) and Felda issues. We(government) have to deal with it, solve it and hopefully they (people) will understand it better," he told reporters.

Adnan also promised to give attention to issues and problems faced by Rompin folks, including the Orang Asli community.

Meanwhile, Puteri UMNO chief Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said Hasan's victory would indeed bring about positive impact to Rompin development.

She also thanked the BN election machinery for their commitment and hard work to ensure victory for the candidate.