Responding to Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s warning against overconfidence, Khaled said the party was aware that BN “must always be prepared” to face the “many challenges” ahead.

He told FMT that Umno had, in fact, become “more cautious” and would use data made available to it to interpret “the mood of the people and voter sentiment”.

He said the party would be looking into economic and social problems, assessing the current government’s popularity and addressing several other issues, including those arising from the implementation of Undi18 and automatic voter registration.

Khaled also said the Melaka victory had nevertheless boosted morale in both BN and Umno.

Tengku Razaleigh, a former chairman of the Umno advisory council, said recently that Umno must not be deluded by the election result as many voters did not cast their ballots.

A total of 326,068 votes were cast. The figure accounted for 65.8% of registered voters in the state.

He said those who did not vote were probably adopting a wait-and-see attitude until the next general election, expected to be held next year.

But Khaled said there was a need to capitalise on the feel-good momentum.

“This can be done by continuing with our reform agenda and strengthening the party’s machinery. We must also ensure that the current government listens to what the people want and act accordingly.”