2019 Cameron Highlands by-election

2019 Cameron Highlands by-election
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P78 Cameron Highlands seat in the Dewan Rakyat
  First party Second party Third party
  BN PH IND
Candidate Ramli Mohd Nor M. Manogaran Sallehudin Ab Talib
Party Direct Member DAP Independent
Alliance BN PH
Popular vote 12,038 8,800 314
Percentage 56.18% 41.07% 1.47%
  Fourth party
  IND
Candidate Wong Seng Yee
Party Independent
Popular vote 276
Percentage 1.29%
Cameron Highlands federal constituency border and its corresponding state assembly seats.
MP before election

Sivarraajh Chandran (nullified)
Barisan Nasional (MIC)

Elected MP

Ramli Mohd Nor
Barisan Nasional (Direct Member)

A by-election was held on 26 January 2019 for the Dewan Rakyat seat of Cameron Highlands.[1] The seat became vacant after the Election Court on 30 November 2018 declared the incumbent Barisan Nasional (BN) Member of Parliament of Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) Dato' Sivarraajh Chandran's victory in the seat null and void because it was found that corrupt practices were committed in the 14th general election.[2] The court found Sivarraajh guilty of bribing of between RM30 and RM1,000 to the Orang Asli community voters prior to the election as established beyond reasonable doubt in the election petition filed by the Democratic Action Party (DAP) candidate M. Manogaran.[3]

This was the fifth national and the second parliamentary by-election to be called since the historic 2018 general election, which saw the first-ever change of federal government in Malaysia's history. Polling for this by-election was held on 26 January 2019 (Saturday), with nomination day on 12 January and early voting on 22 January. Overseas voting was opened for registration from 19 December 2018 and closed on 11 January 2019.[4]

Barisan Nasional's direct member candidate Ramli Mohd Nor won the by-election.[5] He was the first indigenous Orang Asli candidate elected into the Dewan Rakyat.[6] (Ramli would later join one of the coalition's constituent parties, United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) as its member.)[7]

The by-election had the highest turnout than any other by-election after the 14th General Elections.[8]

  1. ^ "Cameron Highlands parliamentary by-election set for Jan 26". The Star Online. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  2. ^ Hamdan, Nurbaiti (2018-11-30). "Court nullifies BN's GE14 victory for Cameron Highlands seat (Updated)". The Star Online. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
  3. ^ Hong, Bede (30 November 2018). "MIC loses Cameron Highlands seat over graft case". The Malaysian Insight. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  4. ^ Joseph Kaos Jr (19 December 2018). "Cameron Highlands parliamentary by-election set for Jan 26". The Star Online. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  5. ^ "BN retains Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat". The Sun Daily. Bernama. 26 January 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  6. ^ "It's official: BN's Ramli wins Camerons polls". The Star Online. 26 January 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  7. ^ Mohamed Nawab Mohamed Osman (31 January 2019). "What next for Malaysian politics as PAS, Umno cement alliance". Today.
  8. ^ Yasmin Ramlan (26 January 2019). "EC satisfied with highest by-election turnout since GE14". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 26 January 2019.