Development and the voting pattern in the Manek Urai state assembly by-election

The Manek Urai state legislative assembly election was held in 2009 following the death of the PAS assemblyman. The result was that PAS managed to retain victory but with a severely reduced majority. In contrast, although defeated, support for the BN had increased significantly especially from channels 3 and 4 indicating a growing confidence of young voters in the BN. This combined with a solid increase of votes for the BN by other segments of the electorate meant that the BN-ruled Federal Government was perceived to be capable of bringing development back to Manek Urai where the majority of the people worked as rubber tappers and small-scale farmers, or were unskilled or semi-skilled self-employed. The BN success factors in eroding the PAS traditional dominance included the party’s ability to set an effective strategy for winning the voters‘ heart and mind, and the problem-solving leadership style of the BN head who was also the country‘s Prime Minister.