KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 — Pakatan Harapan’s failure to secure the Bumiputera support needed to win the Cameron Highlands by-election exposes the pact’s continued weakness among the country’s majority, according to DAP’s Ong Kian Ming.
The Bangi federal lawmaker said the Saturday outcome also confirmed his earlier prediction that the pact’s fortunes would hinge on its ability to improve on the Malay and Orang Asli communities’ support from last year’s general election.
DAP’s M. Manogaran was easily defeated by Barisan Nasional’s direct candidate, former Orang Asli police officer Ramli Mohd Nor, by a margin of over 3,000 votes or a magnitude more than the 597 votes from the 14th general election.
From a preliminary analysis of the result, Ong said it was still too early to deduce the complete reasons for PH’s inability to crack the BN stronghold.
“One thing, however, is clear. Just because PH is in power at the federal level, we cannot assume that there will be a natural shift in support towards the federal government among those groups who have been seen to be more reliant on the support provided by the federal government.
“This would include the Orang Asli communities and the Felda settlers, two of the most important voting groups in Cameron Highlands,” Ong said in a statement.
He added that the ruling coalition must now redouble its efforts to win the “hearts and minds” of voters from Malaysia’s dominant indigenous communities in addition to retaining its current support from others in the country.
Ong also said lessons from the Cameron Highlands poll will provide the basis for the pact’s action plan to retain federal power four years from now.
According to Ong’s study of data by voting districts, PH largely retained its support from Chinese voters and improved among the Indian community, but was not able to gain any ground among Malay voters.
The Cameron Highlands poll was the first won by BN since its general election defeat and provided a glimpse into the possible political shift that could be achieved through an organised partnership with Islamist party PAS.
PAS sat out the by-election and threw its full support behind Ramli. The Islamists had secured over 3,000 ballots during the 14th general election or approximately the same number gained by BN in this poll.
