40% jump in Malay votes clinched BN victory in Camerons

Voter turnout in the Cameron Highlands by-election was 68.79%, less than the 79% turnout recorded during the May 9 polls.

PETALING JAYA: Results from the Cameron Highlands by-election on Saturday show a slight increase in Malay support for Pakatan Harapan (PH) from the May 9 general election, but a jump of nearly 40% in Barisan Nasional’s (BN) average vote share in Malay-majority polling districts, from 47.9% to 86.8%.

Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming said BN’s whopping 38.9% increase in support in Jelai was far ahead of the coalition’s performance in mixed districts where its vote share saw growth of 8.6%, from 33.2% to 41.8%.

This was in contrast to Malay support for PH which went from 8.4% in the May 9 polls to 9.6% in Cameron Highlands – an increase of only 1.2%.

In mixed districts, PH saw a 1.3% increase in support from 52% to 53.3%, and in Indian-majority areas, support grew 16.4% from 42.6% to 59%.

In Orang Asli-majority districts, PH also saw an 11.3% increase in support from 7.2% to 18.5%.

In Chinese-majority districts, however, support for PH fell 2.2% from 76% to 73.8%.

BN meanwhile saw an increase in support in Chinese-majority districts, from 19% to 20.4%. Support in mixed districts also grew from 33.2% to 41.8%.

In Indian-majority districts, however, support for BN fell from 39.7% to 34.8%, and support from the Orang Asli community dipped from 75.1% to 74.8%.

Ong said PH had done well to increase its support from the Orang Asli in Pos Lanai and Pos Titum from 0.9% and 3.8% respectively in the 14th general election to 27.2% and 31.9% in the by-election.

“But most of this increase in PH support in the Orang Asli voting districts came from votes which went to PSM and to a smaller extent, PAS, in GE14 rather than from BN supporters switching their votes to PH.

“This is why the average support for BN in the Orang Asli voting districts hardly budged, at approximately 75% in the by-election,” he said in a statement today.

He said PH’s failure to make significant headway among the Malay and Orang Asli voters in Cameron Highlands was an indicator of how much work remains to be done.

“Without any systematic survey, it would be difficult to attribute any specific factors to the by-election results.

“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,” he said.

In the by-election on Saturday, BN’s Ramli Mohd Nor won by a majority of 3,238 votes, beating PH’s M Manogaran who got 8,800 votes and independent candidates Sallehudin Ab Talib and Wong Seng Yee, who obtained 314 and 276 votes respectively.

This marked BN’s biggest victory in the constituency since 2008.

Voter turnout was 68.79%, close to the Election Commission’s 70% target but lower than the 79% turnout recorded during the May 9 polls last year. - FMT