COMMENT | The temptation to hail the landslide victory for the Mahkota by-election on Saturday as a solid, unwavering endorsement of the Madani government and Pakatan Harapan’s alliance with Umno Baru will be there and it will be milked to the most.

But the figures show a different picture - the maintenance of a status quo with neither the Madani coalition nor the Perikatan Nasional coalition of Bersatu and PAS making any significant headway or losses in the overall equation.

That means, despite his past, which included a stint as Johor menteri besar, Muhyiddin Yassin’s Bersatu does not even hold much sway in his home state of Johor let alone the rest of the country.

And PAS’ grip of the northern states has not shown a similar tightening at all in the south.

With a reduced turnout of Chinese voters, indications are that...