LIM Guan Eng today denied promising Cameron Highlands voters with development only if they voted for the Pakatan Harapan candidate in the January 26 by-election.

Dismissing criticism from polls watchdog Bersih 2.0 over his reported remarks during a visit to Cameron Highlands on Wednesday, the finance minister said he had not offered anything specific to the Cameron Highlands voters when he urged them to vote for Pakatan Harapan in exchange for development.

The DAP secretary-general said his intention was for the people in the parliamentary seat to have two different elected representatives that can bring changes to the area.

“What I said was different from what was reported. The report was not comprehensive. Let me tell you what I actually said.

“We should have the federal government and the state government working together to help develop Cameron Highlands.

“One from the state government, where the Jelai assemblyman is the Pahang MB, and one from the federal government from us.

“If an MP representing the federal government is elected, we can help develop it together. If the MP is also from BN, how will they develop Cameron Highlands?,” Lim said.

Bersih yesterday told Pakatan Harapan not to blackmail Cameron Highlands voters by saying that it will withhold development unless they voted for its candidate in the coming by-election.

It said that such tactics were reminiscent of BN under Najib Razak, which had consistently abused its incumbency while campaigning with the “you help me, I help you” approach in giving out development aid to constituencies.

Bersih 2.0 was referring to remarks reportedly attributed to Lim that voters in Cameron Highlands should vote for Pakatan Harapan for development.

“Although the Malaysian government has changed, the Cameron Highlands (parliamentary) seat has not changed. Why not change this time? This is for the sake of development. If not, the development in the area will lag. But if there are no changes, then voters can change again in GE15,” Lim was reported as saying in Malaysiakini.

Speaking to reporters after an event in Putrajaya this morning, Lim pointed out that the BN-ruled Pahang has the highest debt in the country, amounting to RM3.1 billion.

“Pahang has the highest debt. How are they going to get the funds to develop the place? That is why I said vote for us so we can work together. As the federal government, we are able to do that.

“We are also ready to work with the BN rep to develop Cameron Highlands,” Lim said.

The by-election is a four-cornered contest involving Pakatan Harapan candidate M Manogaran, BN candidate Ramli Mohd Nor, and two independent candidates, Sallehudin Ab Talib and Wong Seng Yee. – January 18, 2019.