Sivarraajh denies bribing orang asli headmen in return for votes during GE14

KUALA LUMPUR: Cameron Highlands MP Datuk C. Sivarraajh has denied that he had bribed the orang asli headmen to induce the community to vote for the Barisan Nasional in GE14.  

Sivarraajh said no bribery took place at meetings during the campaign period for GE14 as claimed by the petitioner M. Manogaran - the DAP candidate for Cameron Highlands.  

He said even if he did give money, it was upon the request of the headmen for the benefit of the orang asli and their villages. 

"I had never asked or forced them to vote for me when I gave the help and I had no knowledge whether they were registered voters or not before giving assistance.  

"Anyone who came during the six occasions (April 28, May 3, 6, 7, 8 and 9), I would try to help them in any way, regardless of where they were from," he said when testifying in the hearing of an election petition filed by Manogaran at the High Court here on Tuesday (Sept 18).  

Manogaran had filed the petition to nullify the general election results. He has named MIC’s Sivarraajh as the respondent in the petition filed on June 4.  

Manogaran had accused Sivarraajh of campaigning with Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, who is the Pahang Mentri Besar, and giving bribes of between RM30 and RM1,000 to the orang asli community via the village headmen to ensure that they would vote for the Barisan candidate in the five-cornered contest.  

Sivarraajh said Wan Rosdy, who is also Jelai assemblyman, was well known in the area as the seat is under the Cameron Highlands parliamentary constituency.  

But he denied ever asking Wan Rosdy to offer bribes to the orang asli for the sake of fishing votes as claimed.  

He said Wan Rosdy had been the state rep since 2004, and it would be normal for the orang asli to take the opportunity to meet him (Wan Rosdy) to obtain assistance to support their daily needs and inform him about the problems they face.

Counsel Datuk V. Manokaran acted for Manogaran while Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun acted for Sivarraajh.

Wan Rosdy is expected to give his evidence on Oct 3.

The hearing before High Court judge Datuk Azizah Nawawi continues on Thursday (Sept 20).