MyPPP president Tan Sri M Kayveas is planning to contest in the upcoming Cameron Highlands by-election to “create more excitement”.
He claims the party already has 3,000 votes supporting his candidacy.
“We have 3,000 votes in hand and we will have to work hard to get the rest to win,”
He said that the party decided to field him as they are now neither supporting Pakatan Harapan (PH) nor Barisan Nasional (BN).
“We have gone through some hard times and when we wanted to leave BN, we were pressured and threatened. We have now decided to stand on our own and enjoy our freedom,” said Kayveas.
“It is time the country sees MyPPP as another third force in local politics, we may not be significant now, but this party can grow and be the party of the future because we are a multiracial party,” he said.
He said he would champion local issues such as labour, the traffic, the environment, land titles disputes, local housing, and grouses pertaining to the local farmers.
“The traffic situation there is bad where on weekends and holidays, a three to four-kilometre journey can take two hours, it gets ridiculously congested,” he said referring to the congestion in Cameron Highlands.
When asked on his projected chances at winning the seat, Kayveas conceded that he would be the underdog candidate, with a 50-50 chance at winning.
He added that the party is depending on donations to run the campaign in Cameron Highlands.
Kayveas had previously lobbied to contest in Cameron Highlands during the 14th general election.
Cameron Highlands is a traditional MIC seat. It was won by the party’s C Sivarraajh in the May 9 general election where he garnered 10,307 votes against DAP’s M Manogaran’s 9,710 votes.
However, the Election Court declared the seat vacant after finding he had engaged in corrupt practices.
Sivarraajh, who did not appeal the decision, is barred from contesting this time around.
With Kayveas’ jumping into the fray, the by-election is expected to be a three-cornered fight, with PH and BN and MyPPP facing off.
Manogaran has been confirmed as the PH candidate while MIC has not named its candidate yet.
Nominations will be held on Jan 12 and polling on Jan 26.