KUALA LUMPUR — The results of the general election is a major signal from the people to Barisan Nasional (BN), said BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

After the election commission confirmed the results of 179 of the 219 parliamentary seats contested on Saturday (Nov 19), BN had won only 25 seats.

Many of its incumbents and senior leaders were defeated. The pact also lost some of its traditional seats.

“BN accepts and respects the people’s decision. BN considers this GE result to be a big signal given by the people to us,” Mr Zahid said in a statement issued through Bernama tonight.

He said BN will not focus on regaining its strength, but instead deal with the current challenges and try to better understand the needs of the new generation.

Mr Zahid also said that BN was ready to set aside previous differences and work with any party to help form a stable government.

“BN is committed to seeing good relations between the states in the peninsula with Sabah and Sarawak.”

“We are ready to be a bridge to strengthen this relationship,” he said.

It is also understood that the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), the main pillar of BN, will hold a political bureau meeting at 12pm tomorrow, followed by a meeting of the party’s supreme council at 3pm.

Preliminary analysis shows that Perikatan Nasional (PN) managed to penetrate several seats that have been controlled by BN, through Umno, in areas with majority Malay voters.

Among the seats are Kepala Batas, Parit Buntar, Tanjong Karang, Kuala Krau, and even in Putrajaya.

PN swept all the parliamentary seats in Perlis (3), Kelantan (14), and Terengganu (8). THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT