Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin speaks during a press conference at Johor State Umno liaison office, May 10, 2018. ― Picture by Hari Anggara

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 27 — The Cameron Highlands by-election will be the start of a Malay tsunami as Barisan Nasional’s win is proof that voters back the coalition to champion Malay rights, an Umno leader has claimed.

According to Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin, Barisan Nasional (BN) win at the Cameron Highlands by-election is a sign that the people have realised that when it comes to Malays and Bumiputera rights, the opposition bloc is the only choice.

“The Malays and Bumiputera have realised that in PH they are the minority, hence just like DAP who rode the wave of Chinese oppression towards changing the political landscape in Malaysia, Umno and PAS in GE15 will give rise to the Malay-Muslim wave,” Khaled said in a statement today.

“If we continue to nurture and grow our relationship with PAS it will soon give rise to a Malay force big enough to beat PH,” he added.

Orang Asli and BN candidate, Ramli Mohd Nor, won the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat last night. He beat PH candidate M. Manogaran by 3238 votes maintaining BN’s stronghold on the seat since 2003.

In the GE14 last year, a five-cornered fight in Cameron Highlands saw BN winning narrowly by only 597 votes in a stiff fight against PH while PAS took almost 15 per cent of the votes cast.

BN is already known to hold the upperhand in rural constituencies, as is PAS. With combined forces, their potential grows exponentially in mobilising Malay support.

BN is the state ruling coalition, while the Pahang mentri besar is Jelai assemblyman, one of the two state seats within the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat. The other state seat is Tanah Rata.

“Our win is a sign BN are bouncing back and we couldn’t have done it without the help of the Pahang mentri besar and Datuk Seri Najib Razak,” Khaled said.

“Despite the presence of the Prime Minister the people of Cameron Highlands are sending a clear message to the government which is they will not be duped by wayward promises.

“They know Umno and PAS are their best chance to fight for Malay and Bumiputera rights without denying other races their rights.”