KUALA LUMPUR: People’s Progressive Party (myPPP) president Tan Sri M. Kayveas has thrown his hat into the ring for the Cameron Highlands by-election.
Popularly known as Uncle Bond, Kayveas made the announcement after the party’s supreme council meeting this afternoon.
“We paid the price (for leaving Barisan Nasional) and now enjoy freedom to decide for ourselves since joining BN in 1971.
“We can make our own decision without waiting for big brother (believed to be in reference to BN).
“We now have this freedom to speak and express and decide what to do,” he said during a press conference outside MyPPP headquarters here.
Prior to the 14th General Election, there was a dispute over the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat between Kayveas and MIC before MIC got the green light to contest the seat since it has been the party’s traditional seat.
Fondly known as “Uncle Bond” among the people in Cameron Highlands, Kayveas, who started making preparations to contest in Cameron Highlands since 2015 was once quoted saying “it will be heartbreaking if they pick someone else to contest here (Cameron Highlands)”.
On Nov 30, the Election Court in Kuala Lumpur declared the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat vacant after finding that corrupt practices led to the victory of BN candidate, Datuk C Sivarraajh, in GE14.
DAP candidate M. Manogaran filed a petition in June seeking a declaration that the result for the Cameron Highlands parliamentary election was null and void, as the respondent (Sivarraajh) had violated the Election Offences Act 1954 by allegedly bribing voters among the Orang Asli community in the constituency.