Dr M again questions Pekan 'population boom'

Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad has again questioned the sudden increase in the number of voters in Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s constituency in Pekan.

He claimed that Najib would have lost if the number of voters in Pekan had not been boosted by moving in voters from other places, and expressed concern that this may recur.

“The Pekan constituency had only 35,000 voters and Najib nearly lost (in the 1999 general election) if he didn’t brought in voters from other places.

“In the following years where there was an election, suddenly the number of voters increased from 35,000 to 80,000. Where did so many (voters) come from?

“That’s why we are concerned that there were ‘additions’. That’s in Pekan; I think in the coming election, there would be more additions. When there are postal votes, it would be brought to other places. If not, he would lose,” Mahathir told a press conference in Gombak last night, after attending a Bersatu Youth fundraising auction and dinner.

He was asked to comment on Najib’s speech a day earlier, in which the prime minister reportedly said he had nearly lost the 1999 general election because of the ‘black-eye incident’ involving opposition coalition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

The 1998 incident took place weeks after Mahathir had sacked Anwar as deputy prime minister. After Anwar was arrested over sodomy and corruption charges, he was spotted with a black-eye as he was being taken to a courtroom in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 29, 1998.

The then inspector-general of police, Abdul Rahim Noor (photo), was later sentenced to two-months’ jail for assaulting Anwar.

“That nightmare of 1999 was because of the ‘black eye’ incident – other people were responsible for it but we were regarded as the culprits,” Bernama quoted Najib telling delegates at the Pekan Umno divisional meeting last Saturday.

Najib said he only won by a slim 241-vote majority in the 1999 general election, and that had been an unforgettable lesson for him.

'Apply fighting spirit of the athletes'

He urged Pekan Umno to apply the fighting spirit of national athletes in themselves to maintain the 35,613-vote majority in Pekan, which is he won in the 2013 general election and was the largest winning majority in the constituency’s history.

Najib had inherited the Pekan seat from his father Abdul Razak Hussein in 1976 and has held the seat continuously since, except for the period between 1982 and 1986.

For the record, there were 35,834 registered voters in Pekan during the 1999 general election. The figure increased to 52,687 in the 2004 general election, following a redelineation exercise in the previous year.

The redelineation saw voters being shifted from the neighbouring constituencies of Kuantan and Paya Besar to Pekan, as well as the inclusion of an army camp. Mahathir was still the prime minister when the redelineation proposal was passed in Parliament.

Since then, the number of voters in Pekan had increased to 58,217 by the 2008 general election, and 80,260 by the 2013 general election.

Alluding that the increase was due to phantom voters, Mahathir had previously described Pekan as kawasan hantu raya (an area with ghosts) instead of kawasan pilihanraya (an electoral constituency).

At the fundraising dinner last night, Bersatu Youth chief Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman said the organisers managed to sell all 53 tables available for the event.

Items belonging to Bersatu’s top three leaders - Mahathir, Muhyiddin Yassin and Mukhriz Mahathir - were also auctioned the raise funds.

Mahathir’s signature Nehru jacket, which he often wore at official functions, was sold at its opening bid of RM5,000, while his Gucci-branded necktie sold for RM2,300 (up from the opening bid of RM1,000).

Muhyiddin’s green batik shirt that he wore when he became deputy prime minister was sold for RM1,600 (up from RM1,500), while his Hugo Boss-branded bag sold at its opening bid of RM2,000.

A Mont Blanc-branded pen used by Mukhriz to sign documents during his tenure as Kedah menteri besar was sold for RM3,000 (up from RM1,500), while his songket cloth sold for RM2,500 (up from RM2,000).

Syed Saddiq said the event had raised RM122,000 in total, including the RM16,400 raised at the auction. -Mkini