BARISAN Nasional is toying with the idea of fielding an Orang Asli candidate in the Cameron Highlands by-election as the community’s vote had tilted the outcome in its favour in the last two elections.

MIC sources said the BN high command wishes to have a “winnable candidate” and has identified one such person for the role.

“He is not from any of our components. But they have a candidate in mind. Apparently he is an activist among the community, has a university education and has worked in government before,” said another MIC official, adding that the party would be willing to step aside if that were the case.  

Current negotiations over the candidate selection are based on the understanding that MIC gets to contest the seat at the next general election.

“The party will not surrender the seat to Umno. If Umno is going to contest we might as well do it ourselves,” a highly placed party official told The Malaysian Insight.

He could not say who the possible candidate is but said the final decision would be made at the BN meeting tomorrow.

Results of the last two elections in Cameron Highlands show the Orang Asli vote made the difference in deciding the outcome.

With a creditable Orang Asli candidate, BN believes it will be able to lock in the community’s vote this time around, too.

In the last elections, there were 32,048 voters and a turnout of 76% (24,365), with Orang Asli voters making up 22%, Malays (34%), Chinese (30%) and Indians (15%).

MIC president S. A. Vigneswaran yesterday moved to quash talk the party was giving up the seat to Umno.

“No such thing as us giving the seat to Umno, nor has Umno asked us for the seat.

“We will meet this Thursday with Umno and MCA to discuss the best possible candidate. We are now looking at ways to win the election,” he said at the central working committee meeting.

Local Orang Asli activist Isaac Ng said it would go a lot harder for Pakatan Harapan should BN field a well-known Orang Asli.

“As it is now, it’s a three-way fight between BN, Pakatan Harapan’s M. Manogaran and (MyPPP’s M.) Kayveas. An Orang Asli candidate could tilt the odds for BN,” said Ng, who has worked in the community in Cameron Highlands for more than 20 years.

He said while Kavyeas is a third-party candidate, he could still snatch votes from both BN and PJ as the former MyPPP president has been active in the area the past few years.

“Kayveas even bought a house nearby.

“With PAS votes going to BN, fielding a Semai candidate here among the Orang Asli could just be enough for BN to win.”

In the last election, MIC’s Sivarraajh Chandran picked up 10,307 votes to defeat Manogaran, who polled 9,710 votes, PAS’ Wan Mahadir (3,587), PSM’s Suresh Kumar Balasubramaniam (680) and Berjasa’s Mohd Tahir Kassim (81).

The by-election is called after the election court nullified Sivarraajh’s May 9 win on grounds of corruption. The Election Commission had barred him from contesting and voting in an election for five years.

MIC was granted leave on Monday to seek a judicial review for Sivarraajh’s disqualification The court will hear the merits of the application tomorrow.

Last week, MIC sources said the party has shortlisted four candidates for Cameron Highlands, with party vice-president T. Murugiah considered the favourite.

The three other names in the hat are social activist K. Subramaniam, businessman A.K. Ramalingam and the Pahang Sabai state seat candidate in GE14, R. Goonasakaren.

All are members of the party’s central working committee and from the Kounder community, the dominant Indian clan in Cameron Highlands.

“However, at this point, Murugiah is seen as the firm favourite as he has been doing work for years now in Cameron Highlands,” said a party source. 

Murugiah, a one-time PPP Youth chief and deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, has also done considerable work with the Orang Asli in Cameron Highlands during his time in Putrajaya. – January 9, 2019.