PAKATAN Harapan can win Cameron Highlands if outstation voters return to tilt the Barisan Nasional stronghold to the ruling federal government, Lim Kit Siang said today.

The DAP adviser acknowledged that Barisan Nasional had the upper hand in the by-election, even a day before voters in the Pahang seat go to the polls.

“As of noon on the eve of the Cameron Highlands by-election, BN has the upper hand and will win the by-election unless a miracle happens tomorrow with an unexpected influx of outstation voters defying normal trends to save the seat for PH.

“No political analyst or polling group predicts a PH victory in the Cameron Highlands by-election tomorrow,” Lim said in a statement from Tringkap today.

Echoing Lim was activist and former Malaysian Bar chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan, who retweeted the DAP veteran’s warning and appeal to outstation voters.

“Come on outstation voters. Please treat this election like a GE fight and vote! That’s how the candidates view it. You could truly improve the lives of the people of CH if you bring change here,” tweeted Ambiga.

In a second tweet, she appealed to outstation voters, saying, “I may be one of PH’s toughest critics. But they are still one million times better than the last government. Time to show BN the door in Cameron Highlands”.

Voters go to the polls tomorrow and BN is expected to win the seat again. It has won the seat in every election since the constituency was created in 2003.

PH’s M. Manogaran from DAP faces BN’s Ramli Mohd Nor, a retired Orang Asli policeman; and independent candidates Wong Seng Yee and Sallehudin Ab Talib in the contest.

Pollster Ilham Centre earlier today released its prediction of a BN win, based on 402 face-to-face interviews with Cameron Highlands voters during the campaign period.

It said BN would be carried by Malay and Orang Asli voters, while the turnout of Chinese and Indian voters was expected to be low.

Malays make up 33.7% of the over 32,000 voters in Cameron Highlands. Orang Asli voters comprise almost 22%.

Lim said the 14-day campaign had been “marred by the vicious and toxic politics of lies, fear, hate, race, and religion perpetrated by both Umno and PAS.”

He cited the use of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim’s death to attack PH’s Indian ethnic candidate and spoil his chances as an example.

Flyers with the title “DAP Hindu/Hindraf bunuh Adib” (DAP Hindu/Hindraf killed Adib) virtually accused Manogaran, a lawyer, as a murderer, Lim said.

He said Manogaran had also been accused of paying Orang Asli witnesses in the election appeal he had filed against BN’s C. Sivarraajh, who won Cameron Highlands in the general election last year.

Sivarraajh lost the seat when the election court found there was vote-buying in the GE14 campaign by BN, which led to his win.

“Manogaran has these lies and falsehoods against him. In fact, other Orang Asli witnesses who were to testify in the election appeal last year about vote-buying and money politics were spirited away by some tok batins to Golok for a free holiday trip,” said Lim.

Lim said he was also accused in a WhatsApp message of tabling a motion at the Dewan Rakyat to remove the words “Islam” and “Malay” from the federal constitution.

“In my 45 years in the Dewan Rakyat since 1969, I had never submitted such a motion.”

Lim said he was also attacked in Jelai, being accused of saying the Orang Asli people were not Malaysians when he had long acknowledged the people as the first inhabitants in the country.

“I only asked how they could be regarded as full citizens when they had been denied the most basic infrastructure like proper access roads, clean water and electricity; and deprived of elementary needs like education, health and medical care, housing and economic opportunities. They are even denied of their traditional land rights!”

He said letting BN win tomorrow would be a blow to the fight to change the country from a global kleptocracy to a nation of integrity.

Lim said a BN win would allow former prime minister Najib Razak to crow about himself and his previous policies, claiming that they had the people’s support in spite of the scandals surrounding 1Malaysia Development Bhd, Felda, Felcra, Tabung Haji, and Mara from his administration.

He also said it was because of the expected BN win that Najib was using the Cameron Highlands by-election as the launching-pad for his “Save Najib” campaign.

The DAP veteran said Najib was trying to make his political comeback to Putrajaya as prime minister in the next general election through the Cameron Highlands victory.

He said Najib was clearly the “campaigner-in-chief” in Cameron Highlands, and also the person who decided that MIC should not send a candidate for the seat.

Lim said Najib was also the one who had chosen Ramli as the BN candidate, and roped in PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang to secure the Islamist party’s supporters.

“It would be worth his while to make the greatest gamble in his life – to use the by-election as his ‘Save Najib’ campaign launchpad.

“Should BN fail to win Cameron Highlands tomorrow, all hopes and possibilities of a Najib political comeback will be crushed into smithereens, and Najib can say a final goodbye to Malaysian politics.

“Without an unexpected influx of some 5,000-odd outstation voters to undo the BN advantage in Cameron Highlands, Najib is sailing to victory.

“It is now in the hands of outstation voters to determine whether Najib can use Cameron Highlands for his comeback,” he said. – January 25, 2019.