THE fight for the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat will be tough for the ruling pact, said Pakatan Harapan deputy president Lim Guan Eng.

He said the Pahang constituency is a Barisan Nasional stronghold, and traditionally allocated to MIC.

“It will be a tough fight because MIC, which has always held the seat, has the upper hand.

“The seat has long been MIC’s, and has never been won by DAP or PH,” said the DAP secretary-general today after launching a lift upgrading project at the Bukit Gelugor Customs quarters in Penang.

The Cameron Highlands seat was vacated after M. Manogaran, DAP’s candidate in the 14th general election, won a court order to nullify the victory of MIC’s C. Sivarraajh.

The election court found that BN had bought votes during the polls campaign, leading to Sivarraajh winning the seat with 10,307 votes, beating Manogaran, who got 9,710 votes, and three other candidates.

Nomination for the by-election has been fixed for January 12, and polling day will be on January 26.

Lim said DAP has yet to decide on its candidate for the seat, adding that the party’s central executive committee will meet over the next few days to discuss the matter.

He said PH will work hard to win Cameron Highlands, so that constituents get to enjoy the benefits of sustainable development.

Manogaran is tipped to contest the seat again, while BN component MyPPP’s disputed president, Dr M. Kayveas, is said to be mulling throwing his hat in the ring.

Last week, he told Berita Harian that Cameron Highlands folk want him to contest the by-election.

“Haven’t decided yet,” he told The Malaysian Insight in a WhatsApp message today.

In the run-up to GE14, Kayveas had lobbied to contest the seat. – January 1, 2019.