Barisan loses Camerons due to bribery

Another by-election is on the cards as the Election Court has declared Barisan Nasional’s win in the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat null and void after finding corrupt practices were committed. MIC’s Datuk C. Sivarraajh, who won the seat on a Barisan ticket, said he will appeal while coalition chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the Umno and MIC machinery must be prepared for all possibilities.

IPOH: Datuk C. Sivarraajh (pic) will appeal to the Federal Court over the Election Court’s decision declaring Barisan Nasional’s win in the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat null and void.

The MIC vice-president said he accepted the judgment and would file an appeal soon.

“The judge in her judgment said that there was evidence showing money was given by agents, but there is no direct evidence pointing at me.

“I don’t want to say much because it will then be prejudice,” he added.

He said as a first-time parliamentarian he did not have that kind of money to give to the orang asli.

“There are 84 villages under my constituency, and I definitely don’t have such cash,” Sivarraajh said.

Barisan chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi confirmed on his twitter account the coalition would appeal over the decision.

“The machinery led by Umno and MIC must be ready for all possibilities. The MP will continue to provide service to the constituents despite this predicament,” he said.

On June 4, DAP candidate M. Manogaran had filed a petition to nullify the general election results.

In the petition, he had claimed that both Sivarraajh and Jelai assemblyman Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, who is Pahang mentri besar, had met nine village heads and gave them money to distribute between RM30 and RM1,000 each to the orang asli community.

In Kuantan, Wan Rosdy said Pahang Barisan Nasional would hold a special meeting on preparation for a by-election.

Wan Rosdy who is state Barisan chief said they were shocked by the court decision but accepted it with an open heart.

“I believe Barisan in this state is still strong and able to mobilise effectively to face the by-election,” he said.

Another election petition being closely watched is the Tasek Gelugor parliamentary seat in Penang.

The Federal Court this week remitted an election petition over the GE14 Tasek Gelugor constituency results back to the Election Court for full trial.

The petition was filed by Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Marzuki Yahya from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia. Marzuki is challenging the win of Barisan Datuk Shabudin Yahaya who won by a slim majority of 81 votes.