EX-JOHOR MB KHALED, AMONG THOSE SAID TO BE WAITING TO JUMP TO BERSATU, NOW SAYS: YOU’RE WRONG DR MAHATHIR – CAMERON’S WIN SHOWS UMNO & PAS STILL STRONG & WILL TRIGGER RISE OF A NEW MALAY-MUSLIM WAVE

PETALING JAYA – The win in the Cameron Highland by-election shows the rise of a Malay Muslim wave, says Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

“If the understanding between Umno and PAS is further cultivated and mobilised effectively, it will give rise to a large and important Malay Muslim wave that could silence Pakatan Harapan.

“Even more so when the Malays and Bumiputras realise that voices of the Malays in Pakatan Harapan are very small and represent a minority that is constantly ignored,” he said in a media statement issued here on Sunday (Jan 27).

He said Pakatan is uncomfortable with the outcome of the Cameron Highlands polls as it does not want to see the Malays and Opposition parties uniting and cooperating.

He noted the result also showed that voters were confident that Umno and PAS were the best combination to champion the Malay and Bumiputra cause without denying other races.

“Malays and Bumiputras will not be influenced and choose a party such as DAP, which clearly rejects the concept of the special position of the Malays and Bumiputras through their Malaysian Malaysia ideology,” he added.

Khaled also said the win signified that Barisan has succeeded in managing the defeat it suffered in the previous general election.

“The win is the first step for Barisan to come back to power.

“It proves that Umno and Barisan are not dead, broken and destroyed, as claimed by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad,” he said.

On Saturday (Jan 26), Barisan’s Ramli Mohd Nor became the first orang asli to be elected as an MP after winning the Cameron Highlands by-election.

He won the seat by a 3,238-vote majority in a four-cornered contest against Pakatan candidate M. Manogaran and independent candidates Sallehudin Ab Talib and Wong Seng Yee.

Manogaran had previously contested for the seat and lost on a DAP ticket in GE14.

The by-election was held after the Election Court nullified Barisan candidate Datuk C. Sivarraajh’s victory in GE14 on grounds of vote-buying by Barisan during the election campaign.

Sivarraajh, from MIC, had won the seat by a 597-vote majority in a five-cornered contest, defeating Manogaran, PAS candidate Wan Mahadir Wan Mahmud, Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s B. Suresh Kumar and Berjasa Mohd Tahir Kassim.

– ANN