CAMERON HIGHLANDS: In a surprising turn of events, MyPPP president Tan Sri M. Kayveas has pulled out from contesting in the Cameron Highlands by-election.
Instead, he has pledged his full support for Pakatan Harapan's candidate M. Manogaran.
Kayveas arrived at SMK Sultan Ahmad Shah in Tanah Rata here with supporters carrying MyPPP flags and entered the nomination centre here at about 9.30am on Saturday (Jan 12).
But instead of filing his nomination papers, he announced that he was going to withdraw from contesting.
He expressed his disappointment with the Barisan Nasional leadership for snubbing him twice in Cameron Highlands, the first of which was during the 14th General Election.
"I have had a long relationship with Barisan Nasional. I remain close friends with some of the leaders, but that's personal.
"However, the leaders did not appreciate my loyalty when they did not offer me any parliament seat during previous election. I accepted it and remained with Barisan.
"I was also promised that I would get it next round. Then they went back to their traditional story and made excuses.
"Our loyalty has not been reciprocated," said Kayveas to reporters.
Kayveas said he would throw his support behind Pakatan and highlighted several issues for the coalition to focus on.
"There are issues of environment, road damages, TOL (Temporary Occupation Licence) land, as well as unfair treatment of farmers. Pakatan should resolve all these immediately," said Kayveas.
Kayveas had long lobbied to contest the Cameron Highlands seat under the Barisan banner. However, in GE14, Barisan chose to field MIC's Datuk C. Sivarraajh instead.
Sivarraajh won the seat with 10,307 votes, with Manogaran coming in closest with 9,710 votes.
However, on Nov 30, the Election Court declared Barisan's win during GE14 null and void, after it found corrupt practices had been committed.
The incumbent Sivarraajh did not appeal the court's decision. Meanwhile, the Election Commission (EC) barred Sivarraajh from contesting for five years.
Polling for the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat will be held on Jan 26, with early voting set for Jan 22.
