KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 — Veteran DAP leader Lim Kit Siang said if Barisan Nasional (BN) wins in the Cameron Highlands by-election tomorrow, it would diminish the New Malaysia objective to transform the country into a leading nation of integrity.

In a statement today, he said this was due to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak having the upper hand in claiming that his policies had gained the support of Malaysians, which included the 1MDB scandal and other kleptocracy issues and abuse of power.

He the outcome of tomorrow’s by-election would also determine as to whether Najib would be successful into launching his "Save Najib” campaign, in which Lim claims would be the latter’s political comeback, to return as the prime minister in the next general election.

"A BN victory will be a blow to the New Malaysia objective to transform Malaysia from a global kleptocracy into a leading nation of integrity, for Najib will then be able to crow that he and his policies have the support of Malaysians ― including the 1MDB scandal and a host of other kleptocracy and abuses of power which affect Felda, Felcra, Tabung Haji and MARA.

"Be that as it may, Malaysians throughout the country will await the outcome of Cameron Highlands by-election to see whether Najib could now launch his ‘Save Najib’ campaign to make a political comeback and return to Putrajaya as prime minister in the 15th general election by 2023,” he said in the statement.

Reiterating the Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) call for outstation voters to return back to their hometown to vote, Lim said the odds are on BN to take over Cameron Highlands, unless there is an unexpected influx of some odd 5,000 outside voters casting their ballots, tomorrow.

"As of noon on the eve of Cameron Highlands by-election, BN has the upper hand and will win the by-election unless a miracle happens tomorrow with an unexpected influx of outstation voters defying normal trends to save the seat for Pakatan Harapan.

"No political analyst or polling group predicts Pakatan Harapan victory in the Cameron Highlands by-election tomorrow,” he said.