BN retained the Pelangai state seat after its candidate, Amizar Abu Adam, secured 7,324 votes to come out on top in a three-cornered fight. Amizar secured a 2,949-vote majority over Kasim Samat of PN and independent candidate Haslihelmy DM Zulhasli.

The seat fell vacant following the death of Johari Harun in the Elmina plane crash in August. He had won the seat in the November 2022 general election by a larger margin of 4,048 votes.

Awang Azman Pawi from Universiti Malaya believes the recent swell in support for PN, dubbed the “green wave”, may have lost its momentum in Pelangai.

“The euphoria and momentum surrounding the ‘green wave’, which began in GE15 and continued into several state elections after that, had been slowing down since the Pulai and Simpang Jeram by-elections. It was even slower in Pelangai,” he told FMT.

He also believes the victory has shown that voters trust BN-Pakatan Harapan to run Pahang, led by menteri besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail.

Political analyst Sivamurugan Pandian agreed that PN missed an opportunity to reignite the “green wave” despite many leaders hitting the campaign train to woo Felda settlers.

He said PN has to conduct a “post-mortem” to inquire into why it was unable to attract the same groundswell of support in Pelangai.

Sivamurugan said the win should give BN a confidence boost amid speculation it was losing supporters to PN after several disappointing election showings.

BN should scrutinise its winning strategy and use it as a template for future elections, he said.

On whether it mattered that BN’s majority of 4,048 votes in 2022 had shrunk, he said it was not unusual for by-elections to be decided by finer margins than general elections as complacency tends to set in among the supporters of an incumbent’s party, which may cause them to stay away from the polls.