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(Malaysian Mirror) - Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he had expected BN to retain the Bagan Pinang state seat as it was the coalition's stronghold.
"I am very happy. From the beginning I had predicted we (BN) will win as that is our area. Isa (Mohd Isa Abdul Samad) is strong there and the Indians also supported him. "I believed he would win although another BN candidate would also have won. Now we have to look after other areas. "We can win in opposition areas," the former premier told reporters after attending a Hari Raya function organised by the Pusat Bandar Cempaka Umno branch here on Sunday night. He reminded party members not to be swayed by the win to the point of forgetting to discharge the duties that they had been entrusted with.  "If Umno becomes very passionate with the win in one place while losing in other areas...if we lose (sight of) our responsibilities, I believe that in the coming general election maybe we will not achieve a good victory or we will not win," Mahathir said.
Asked if the win in Bagan Pinang was a sign that Umno was accepted in the area, he said it was a fact that the party had support in the area. Isa's contributions not forgotten In Port Dickson last night, Umno vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein said among the factors that contributed to BN's win were the personality and leadership of the former Negeri Sembilan MB which endeared him to the constituents. He said the win also proved that the voters in the area did not forget the services and contributions of Mohd Isa, who is also the Teluk Kemang Umno division chief. "Their support has been translated into votes although various allegations were thrown at him until polling day," he told reporters after the announcement of the by-election result. Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said the bigger majority-win indicated that Isa and BN were accepted by the multiracial voters in the constituency. He said the victory was made even more meaningful with the good non-Malay support, especially from the Indian voters, with all the ballot boxes favouring BN. Wanita Umno chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil regarded BN's victory in Bagan Pinang as a victory for the people who wanted peace and stability in the country. Meanwhile, Puteri Umno head Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin hoped the BN leadership would maintain the victorious momentum in Bagan Pinang for BN to perform better in the future. She told Bernama that BN should not be complacent after the win, but instead be spurred to work harder to secure victory in the next general election. In the Bagan Pinang state by-election today, BN defended the seat when Mohd Isa defeated Pas' Zulkefly Mohamad Omar with a majority of 5,435 votes. Mohd Isa garnered 8,013 votes against Zulkefly's 2,578 votes.
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Oh yeah! Congratulations to the voters too! You just showed your support to corruption! May God save you all now! 
