BN Has A Good Chance Of Winning Permatang Pasir – Pak Lah

(Bernama) — The Barisan Nasional (BN) has a good chance of winning the upcoming Permatang Pasir by-election, said former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

"BN can win the seat but it has to work hard, run a tight campaign and get close to the people," he told reporters after delivering a talk in tribute of the Yayasan Tun Sardon foundation at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) here Monday.

He said the people were much wiser now and would be very discerning as to who they wanted as their elected representative.

"I have always said the people cannot be fooled. If they want you, you will get it (but) if they don't want you, that's it, try again," he said.

The seat fell vacant following the death of its assemblyman, Datuk Mohd Hamdan Abdul Rahman, who died of a heart ailment at the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

On the illegal anti-Internal Security Act street demonstrations that happened in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, Abdullah said the nation's economy could be adversely affected if such protests were allowed to continue.

He said there were many other ways for the people to voice their views on the Act, among them holding discussions, but resorting to street demonstrations was not a suitable method here (Malaysia)

"Hold it (gathering) at a stadium and if the numbers are not many, a small hall will do. But do not act like what happened (on Saturday)," he said, adding that people involved were selfish in that they did not consider whether their actions would inconvenience others.