Does Harapan have the edge in Cameron Highlands?

As polling stations open their doors to the voters early this morning, the mood among the small trickling crowd looks tired but hopeful. Most did not expect to go back to the ballot box again, so soon after the 14th general election last year.

This is contrary to the mood during nomination day, when BN appeared to have a slight upper hand in Cameron Highlands. At least, that was what most political pundits that I spoke to said.

But I am not sure if those same pundits are feeling the pulse of the voters in Cameron Highlands. Or could it be that their analyses were based purely on their gut feelings, especially in relation to the governance issues facing Pakatan Harapan lately?

Sometimes I wonder how many of these city analysts have actually set foot in the rural parts of Cameron Highlands. Were they here in 2013 when the worst ever mud flood occurred, followed by landslides that caused the death of three people?

Or did they know about the repeat of the mud flood disaster a year later? Are they constantly been confronted by mass deforestation, illegal land clearance and issues related to land grabs? Well, the voters here have gone through these thick and thin and guess what, it all happened under BN rule.

That explained the lukewarm response to former premier Najib Abdul Razak hitting the campaign trail and his many trips here in the last two weeks. Many were cynical about his presence while some were outright standoffish. 

There is a strong possibility that BN campaign has backfired somewhat, especially when it was pointed out that Ramli Mohd Nor is actually BN’s first Orang Asli candidate after 61 years, and it came at a point when they are no longer in power.

How pathetic, some people commented. If elected, what can Ramli do as an opposition MP? Some have already predicted that he might make the switch to Bersatu in no time, and hence the Malay logic to vote for him instead of DAP's M Manogaran.

In the last two weeks, the media was obviously split between BN and Harapan, not forgetting that the former won this seat by a small margin of 597 votes in GE14.

There are two state seats within the parliamentary seat of Cameron Highlands, Tanah Rata and Jelai. - Mkini