You should be one reading Constitution, Ti tells Maria

The Federal Constitution allows a citizen the right to choose to register as a voter, says MCA’s Ti Lian Ker.

PETALING JAYA: MCA’s Ti Lian Ker has hit back at Maria Chin Abdullah, telling the Bersih 2.0 chairperson that she should be the one reading up on the Federal Constitution.

Speaking to FMT, Ti said the Constitution allowed voters the right to choose to register as a voter or otherwise, in response to Maria’s support of automatic voter registration.

He said she should understand and comprehend the reasons why eligible voters are not compelled to vote and the rationale as to why voters are not automatically registered.

“If Maria had actually read the Constitution instead of politicking, she would know to respect the freedom of choice given to all.”

Ti reiterated his stance that forcing people to vote could have a negative impact on the nation’s political landscape, especially in the case of voters who did not follow political issues or developments in the country, but may be inclined to vote along racial or religious lines.

He said it was undeniable that a large number of people still did not care to follow political developments and understand the intrinsic values of politics.

This, he said, was unhealthy, especially if the voters opted to vote along racial and religious sentiments instead of sound policies and good track records.

“Is Maria going to cry foul, lament or complain about immaturity of voters later if they do not cast votes in accordance to her sentiment, inclination or preferred party?”

Alternatively, Ti said, Maria should join a political party and not hide behind the protection of an NGO since she had actively and radically demanded the removal of the democratically-elected prime minister.

Earlier today, Maria slammed Ti and told the MCA Religious Harmony Bureau chief to study the Constitution after the latter’s tirade against an online initiative offering cash incentives to young Malaysians to register as voters.

Ti had warned that it was unwise to increase the number of voters who were uninterested and ignorant in politics, but Maria took offence with his assumption that voters were ignorant.

However, Maria cautioned that she did not approve of offering cash to voters, but welcomed the automatic registration of voters, something that Ti had said would increase the pool of “ignorant, lackadaisical and irresponsible” voters.

Recently, PKR-linked NGO Invoke announced it was organising an online competition offering those who register to vote the chance to win cash incentives up to RM1,000 weekly