LIKE a short rain on a hot day, the Nenggiri by election has come and gone without leaving almost any trace.

According to the Election Commission (EC), Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani had won the state seat with a majority of 3,352 votes over his Perikatan Nasional (PN) rival Mohd Rizwadi Ismail. In the 2023 state election 1ast year, Bersastu had won Nenggiri with a majority of just 810 votes.

The result of the by-election finally proves that UMNO and BN can both compete and topple PN. It serves as a much-needed morale boost for UMNO.

There are 3 takeaways that I see in the Nenggiri by-election:

As compared with the Kuala Kubu Baharu (KKB) and Sungai Bakap by-elections, the Nenggiri by-election was conducted with very little publicity or fanfare.

The conspicuous absence of energy might indicate that voters of both sides of the divide have simply come to accept the status quo even if they are not fully satisfied with it.

This seemingly “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade” attitude is favourable to the unity government will thwart any attempt by the opposition to topple the government.

The opposition can only topple the government if the voters are in a highly agitated and frustrated state. If the voters are in a resigned and lethargic state as the Nenggiri polls has indicated, the odds favour the unity government defending Putrajaya than the opposition conquering it.

For quite some time, the relationship between PAS and Bersatu has been rocky. A big part of the reason is because PAS has been frustrated by how Bersatu keeps dropping the ball although PAS has been doing more than its part to forward PN’s desire to wrest Putrajaya from PH.

Bersatu has not only caused PN to lose Putrajaya after the 15^th General Election (GE15) but it has also lost six of its MP to the unity government, hence making it more difficult for the opposition coalition to control Putrajaya. Despite that, Bersatu is still adamant in its desire to be the party of the Prime Minister (PM) in PN.

A sign that PAS has lost faith in Bersatu can be seen by the Islamist party having unprecedentedly forwarded the names of a couple of its leaders as potential PM material for PN.

It has always been accepted that the PM from PN will come from Bersatu. PAS’ decision to nominate its own leaders as PM candidates likely indicates a steep loss of faith in Bersatu’s leadership.

Such action was likely not well received by Bersatu and is probably one of the major reasons why PAS and Bersatu have been having a rocky relationship recently.

Another sign that PAS has lost faith in Bersatu can be seen from the PN candidate selection. The PN candidate Mohd Rizwadi was the former Gua Musang PAS Youth deputy chief. He was transferred to Bersatu just two days before he was nominated as PN’s candidate for the Nenggiri by-election.

His transfer is another indication of just how low an esteem that PAS has on the integrity of Bersatu leaders.

That Bersatu was unable to retain Nenggiri despite the fact that PN had just won it a year ago -and that the constituency is located in the PAS stronghold of Kelantan - will likely incline PAS to completely lose hope in Bersatu.

If the rumours mills are to be believed, PAS is already in talks with parties like UMNO and PKR for the purpose of forming an alliance.

The loss in Nenggiri will likely incline PAS to dump Bersatu and consider an alliance with UMNO and PKR in an even more serious manner.

The Nenggiri by-election might be the sign that Anwar is looking for to move in a more decisive manner to accomplish his goals and desires.

Although Anwar has been the Prime Minister since 2022, it has not been easy for him to execute his plans with strength because his reign is far from secured.

From the six state elections in August 2023 to the Sungai Bakap by-election, Anwar has to constantly contend with a momentum that could have possibly topple his reign and install PN as the ruler in Putrajaya.

Now that the momentum - often referred to as the “green wave” in local parlance - looks like finally giving way, Anwar will likely have more leg room to secure his rule and accomplish his goals and desires.

Anwar had previously already turned over six Bersatu MPs to his side in order to secure his rule. Now with the victory in Nenggiri under his belt, Anwar might likely be making more similar moves to secure his reign.

The canary in the coalmine that we can use to determine whether Anwar is finally feeling secure about his rule can probably be seen in the fate of his arch-nemesis, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamsd and Tun Daim Zainuddin.

If Anwar feels secure about his rule, Dr Mahathir and Daim will likely face a decisive action as payback for what they did to Anwar 25 years ago. - Aug 18, 2025

Nehru Sathiamoorthy is a roving tutor who loves politics, philosophy and psychology. 

https://focusmalaysia.my/3-takeaways-from-the-nenggiri-polls-pas-to-dump-bersatu-as-its-bed-partner-in-favour-of-umno-pkr/