We should pay attention to BN-PAS combo in Camerons, says PH chief secretary

Barisan Nasional’s huge victory in Cameron Highlands last weekend has been attributed in part to its collaboration with PAS. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Fresh from its defeat in the Cameron Highlands by-election on Saturday, Pakatan Harapan (PH) has raised concern over the Barisan Nasional (BN)-PAS collaboration which saw BN retain the seat with its biggest margin in over a decade.

“This is a bigger matter than who won the by-election,” said PH chief secretary Saifuddin Abdullah.

“There was a campaign by two parties who collaborated closely, one rooted in race and the other in religion – we should be paying attention to this.”

He added that PH would conduct a post-mortem on its performance in a presidential council meeting this Friday, where its leaders would also discuss the Semenyih by-election which is coming up next.

“This is the first time there was a clash between the federal government and the state government,” he said, adding that BN, as the state government in Pahang, had a natural advantage there.

However, he dismissed criticism by analysts who said PH had lost due to a weak campaign.

“There was not much difference between our campaign in Cameron Highlands and in previous by-elections,” he said.

“Each of our campaigns had its strengths and weaknesses. It’s just that this time, we lost.”

The Cameron Highlands by-election saw BN candidate Ramli Mohd Nor defeating PH’s M Manogaran with a 3,238-vote majority.

Many BN supporters attributed the coalition’s victory to its decision to field an Orang Asli candidate for the seat, although others also thanked PAS for its help in the campaign.

“This is the first time that PAS and Umno, from grassroots members to senior leaders, worked together,” Umno Youth leader Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki had said.

In his keynote address earlier at the launch of a journal article on the 14th general election, Saifuddin had argued for a more “centrist” political landscape in the country.

He said Malaysia would benefit from having more politicians with cross-ethnic and cross-religious agendas, which he believed could be achieved by creating more mixed seats.

“Fewer mixed seats would mean more politicians with campaigns rooted on a single race or religion,” he said. - FMT