INVESTIGATIONS into allegations of vote-buying in the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat during the 14th general election have been completed and sent to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission headquarters in Putrajaya for further instructions.

Perak MACC director Zainul Darus said his team had taken statements from Pahang Menteri Besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail and the former MP for Cameron Highlands C. Sivarraajh over allegations that they paid voters during the run-up to the May 9 elections.

Wan Rosdy is the Jelai assemblyman, a state seat under the Cameron Highlands parliamentary constituency. He is also the Cameron Highlands Umno division chief and the parliamentary seat’s Barisan Nasional chairman since 2008.

“We have called in everyone who can assist us in the case. Our investigation papers have been sent to the MACC headquarters,” Zainul told The Malaysian Insight. 

Perak MACC was tasked with probing into the matter, although the alleged corruption took place in Pahang.

BN won the Cameron Highlands seat in GE14, with Sivarraajh garnering 10,307 votes against Pakatan Harapan’s M. Manogaran’s 9,710 in a five-cornered fight.

However, the election court on November 30 nullified the result after finding evidence of corruption to induce voters to vote for Sivarraajh.

The corrupt acts allegedly took place during meetings on April 28, May 3, 6, 7, 8 and 9, as alleged by the petitioner, Manogaran.

In the petition filed on June 4, Manogaran named Sivarraajh, as the sole respondent.

Manogaran had claimed that Sivarraajh had campaigned with Wan Rosdy and handed out between RM30 and RM1,000 to the Orang Asli via their village headmen (batin) to ensure they voted for the BN candidate.

The court ruled the petitioner (Manogaran) had established beyond reasonable doubt that bribery was proven.

While the petitioner claimed that Wan Rosdy was involved in bribing voters to support BN, the court, however, did not name him in its judgment.

Following the decision by the election court, MACC stepped in and began its own investigation.

In the following by-election, BN direct candidate Ramli Mohd Nor won the seat by defeating Manogaran and two other independents with a higher majority. – February 5, 2019.