TANAH RATA: It was a sea of red and blue mostly, with other colours intermingling as supporters of Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional made their way to Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sultan Ahmad Shah for the Cameron Highlands by-election nomination.
Supporters and component party leaders of both government and opposition parties began arriving as early as 7am to the nomination centre.
The increased number vehicles and party supporters brought traffic at this tourist town to standstill in the morning.
Among the political leaders present were Mohammad Sabu, Dr Xavier Jayakumar, Lim Kit Siang, Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali among others.
From the Barisan Nasional it saw the presence of Umno deputy president carrying out the functions of the Umno president, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan,
Umno information chief, Datuk Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah, Datuk Datuk Ahmad Maslan, Puteri Umno Chief, Zahida Zarik Khan, Umno Youth Chief
Dr Asyraf Wajdi.
The nomination process is taking place at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sultan Ahmad Shah between 9am and 10am and barring any protests from candidates, the returning officer, Datuk Ishak Md Napis, is expected to announce the names of eligible candidates who will be contesting the polls by 11am.
The 15-day campaigning period will culminate with polling on January 26.
A total of 811 election workers will be deployed during the by-election. Two helicopters will be used to fly ballot boxes from rural areas to the vote tallying centres.
Out of the 29 polling centres, four centres are scheduled to close at 2pm due to small number of voters in the area while the rest at 5pm on Jan 26.
A total of 32,008 registered voters in the parliamentary constituency are eligible to cast their votes on polling day, said Pahang Election commission director Datuk Zamree Hamli. He added that a total of 247 voters, including policemen, will be voting early on Jan 22.
The Cameron Highlands by-election is the fifth to be called after the 14th General Election (GE14) following a decision by the Election Court to nullify Barisan Nasional candidate, Datuk C. Sivarrajh's victory.
The court had ruled that during the election, there were elements of bribery involved in a bid to sway voters in the area.
Sivarraajh, who faced a five-corner fight in GE14, won the seat with 10,307 votes, while M.Manogaran from DAP garnered 9,710. PAS candidate Wan Mahadir Wan Mahmud polled 3,587 votes, Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s (PSM) B Suresh Kumar (680), and Berjasa candidate Mohd Tahir Kassim (81).