The twin by-elections last Saturday show Umno and BN may have no problem retaining its traditional stronghold seats in rural or semi-rural areas, and maintaining its grip on power in the next general election, said an academician.

This is because national issues like the 1MDB fiasco, RM4.2 billion that went into Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's private bank account and former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad's Save Malaysia campaign did not significantly impact these constituencies.