Military families are now postal voters, claims PAS

By FMT Staff

KOTA BARU: Umno-Barisan Nasional is moving to consolidate its grip on Putrajaya by upping the number of postal voters in the country, according to PAS.

Officials in the party noted that the ruling coalition had directed all wives and children of the uniformed corp to register as postal voters.

Describing the latest Umno-BN strategy as a last-ditch attempt at securing itself, Kelantan PAS new recruits bureau chief Abdul Fattah Mahmood said that it was the only way the ruling coalition could confirm a win for itself in the 13th general election.

"Postal votes are its (BN) lifeline. Before it was just the soldiers and policemen; now the coalition is registering wives and children.

"BN is without any options now. It is the only way for it to secure a victory in the coming election and keep Putrajaya, " he said.

Fattah said that Umno-BN had failed in its efforts to win over the Chinese and Indian communities.

"BN was always dependent on these two communities. They were the coalition's crutch, but Pakatan Rakyat broke this dependence.

"So now BN is using its final lifeline. We in Pakatan have repeatedly said Malaysia is a free country and postal votes should be abolished.

"But unfortunately BN is increasing the postal votes," he said, adding that "postal votes are a misfortune for Malaysia's democratic system".

Insidious attempt

The regime's insidious attempt to bolster support has prompted PAS to issue a warning to all Pakatan-administered states.

Early last month, PAS information chief Idris Ahmad had warned of a political agenda behind the federal government's move to second some 300,000 People's Volunteer Corp (Rela) members to Selangor, considered to be the crown jewel state for Umno.

Idris said the move was a BN ploy to wrest Selangor from Pakatan, as these uniformed members could be depended upon by the ruling regime when they became part of the controversial postal votes for the 13th general election.

Idris had warned that BN had successfully put in place a similar strategy in its 2004 bid to win back Terengganu.

Rela is a paramilitary volunteer corps, originally formed to serve as an auxiliary to the army during times of war.