KOTA BARU: Muafakat Nasional chairman Tan Sri Annuar Musa has alleged that 2,000 people did not turn up to vote after hearing rumours that others had received money.
He claimed that this had affected PN's performance in the Nenggiri by-election, which Barisan Nasional (BN) won yesterday.
Annuar, who is also a Pas member, said this in a Facebook post shortly after voting ended for the state seat yesterday.
"The polling station for Nenggiri by-election has just closed. More than 2,000 PN voters did not go out to vote because there were rumours that others were receiving money."
Annuar also said he observed that the higher voter turnout yesterday had worked in BN's favour, potentially intensifying the competition.
"The high voter turnout might give an advantage to BN," he added.
BN candidate Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani was officially named as the new Nenggiri assemblyman after he won the by-election yesterday.
The 38-year-old father of three won the Nenggiri by-election after defeating PN candidate Rizwadi Ismail. He obtained 9,091 votes while Rizwadi received 5,739 votes.
Azmawi led with a majority of 3,352 votes, more than three times the majority garnered in state elections in August last year.