THE Cameron Highlands seat was Barisan Nasional’s to lose, and Pakatan Harapan was hoping to continue its winning streak in this fifth by-election since the 14th general election.

But tonight, political rookie Ramli Mohd Nor romped to victory with a bigger margin for BN.

Here’s a look at the winners and losers in Cameron Highlands.

WINNERS

Najib Razak

Despite being saddled with 39 criminal charges, the former prime minister took to the by-election with gusto, appearing more than any other Umno leader. 

During the campaign, Najib grabbed the daily headlines with his social media posts, visited the sick and elderly, and even drove into some Semai settlements with a truck. He also attended functions packed to the brim in Jelai and managed to coin a no-shame slogan “Malu Apa Bosku?” that went viral with the help of his supporters on social media.

One would not be far off in thinking Najib was the candidate.

The former Umno president managed to remain in the limelight, overshadowing Umno’s current crop of leaders and even whipping up some sympathy points for himself.

Ramli Mohd Nor

The retired policeman has made history as the first Semai MP in Malaysia. During the campaign, he made few mistakes and gave even fewer interviews. He kept his head down and said very little about himself, his campaign or what he stood for. But come March, he will be a lawmaker.

PAS

Up until this by-election, there was always the question about whether the ordinary PAS member would vote for its mortal enemy, Barisan Nasional.

But early results from Malay polling stations showed that PAS members aided BN’s 3,238-majority vote win over PH.

In Bukit Kota for instance, BN almost doubled its votes from 331 to 639 in this by-election after PAS leaders promised to deliver its votes to them. Similar trends were seen in the Sg Koyan and Bukit Keledek voting stations, which were previously won by PAS.

Racism

Racism was a big winner in the by-election, as some voters told the media that they would not vote for an Indian candidate, in reference to DAP’s M. Manogaran, after the PH government’s mishandling of its public relations over plans to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and some of its ethnic Indian minister’s inflammatory comments following the Seafield Hindu temple riot in Subang Jaya late last year.

Also actively feeding this hatred were Umno campaigners, who told ceramah crowds that Islam and Malays were being undermined after last year’s general election that ushered PH into federal power.

Election Commission

This was chairman Azhar Azizan Harun’s first by-election and he passed with flying colours. In the run-up to nominations, he suggested that candidates could submit their papers for early vetting, cutting out the last-minute drama of candidates getting disqualified.

In a departure from previous practice, he also got the EC to announce unofficial results, allowing the outcome to be known by 7pm. During the campaigning period, he also chided the government when it appeared to overstep its boundaries, something previous chairmen were reluctant to do.

LOSERS

Pakatan Harapan

This first by-election defeat for the ruling coalition as the federal government says a lot more about its first eight months in power.

The campaign was marred with slip-ups from the word “go”, starting from four-time candidate M. Manogaran’s unsavoury “kuih” remark to Senator Bob Manolan’s supposed threats to Semai voters. 

Along the way, Pahang’s debts were used as an election topic while reports of a government vehicle being used on the campaign trail for the government candidate went viral. 

But more importantly, PH’s inability to woo Malay and rural voters spoke volumes about the fledgling coalition, which still appears and sounds like the opposition whenever its ministers answer criticism from BN.

PH will be tested again in Semenyih next month.

M. Manogaran

Manogaran sought justice for bribery committed by the seat’s previous MP C. Sivarraajh of BN-MIC, whose win in Cameron Highlands in GE14 was nullified by the election court, leading to this by-election.

Manogaran had been the one to file an election petition against the GE14 results, but despite his legal success, he failed to excite voters throughout his campaign.

Gaffe after gaffe followed him from day one till voting day itself, when the four-time candidate wore a shirt bearing his party’s logo to a polling station. 

It was also the former Teluk Intan MP’s third attempt and failure to win the Cameron Highlands seat.

MIC

Another seat bites the dust for MIC, as once given is forever lost. 

Cameron Highlands has been won and contested by MIC ever since 2004. But for BN’s sake, MIC ceded the seat to Umno.

From a party that once contested nine federal seats in GE13, MIC is now left with just one federal and three state representatives. That aside, MIC is still one state seat better than their Chinese comrades, MCA. – January 26, 2019.