KUALA LUMPUR, June 5 – UMNO Information chief Shahril Hamdan warns the party machinery not to be carried away by victory in Chini by-election as it was only a small step towards the actual war, which is the next general election.

“This is the general belief over Chini victory… but whether it pictures the real situation in any other part of the country or whether this is a referendum win, are the two questions that I won’t answer right now.

“We don’t want to reiterate the level of confidence we had before the GE-14, and that is why this must not be harbored in run-up to the next GE. As at today, I would like to express my gratitude to the Chini machinery and the voters but this is not an automatic signal that we will win big tomorrow. Let’s not take that stand,” he said.

He said this to UMNO-Online as soon as the official results of the Chini by-election were announced.

BN retains its seat by winning the Chini by-election (DUN) with a majority of 12,650 votes. BN candidate Mohd Sharim Md Zain received 13,872 votes and Independent candidate using the ‘house’ logo Datuk Tengku Zainol Hisham Tengku Hussin get 1,222 votes.

Meanwhile, another Independent Mohd Shukri Mohd Ramli, who used the ‘key’ logo lost his deposit when he only get 137 votes. Voters turnout was 74 per cent.

Shahril also saw a good coordination at various levels of the party throughout the campaign until the day of voting.

“BN machinery did excellent job. I think the coordination between the HQ and the states and the divisions is well organised and all issues and accusations hurled against us have been cleared.

“All this is the result of coordination at every level. I would like to thank the machinery and the voters for choosing Mohd Sharim Md Zain,” he said. – UMNO Online