Best not to vote if you can't get leave, Zahid tells Malaysians in Singapore

GE14 | Caretaker deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi says Malaysians working in Singapore need not return to vote in the 14th general election (GE14) if they can't get leave on May 9.

Asked what his advice for Johoreans working in Singapore was when it comes to voting, said it was up to them whether they wanted to come back.

"We have announced a public holiday on voting day, so it is up to them if they want to come back to vote or otherwise.

"In my view, the government neither encourages nor discourages (returning to vote) as that is an individual right.

"But if the employer from said country (Singapore) does not permit (their Malaysian workers to take leave), then I think the best thing to do is to not come back to vote," he said at a press conference in Kluang, Johor today.

GE14 will be held midweek on a Wednesday much to the ire of many voters.

The announcement has led to a social media campaigns encouraging Malaysians to return to their hometowns to cast their ballots on May 9.

Several Singaporean companies have declared that they will grant leave to all their Malaysian staff to return to vote.

The Malaysian government has also declared May 9 a public holiday in Malaysia,

Meanwhile, caretaker deputy home minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed said it was wrong for the opposition to encourage outstation voters to come back to vote.

"The principle of using outstation voters to influence the result of the constituency is wrong because at the end of the day they (the opposition candidates) do not hold their seat for every election.

“The candidates keep moving around. Even if they win, they don’t serve their constituency and the next election they look for another place to avoid the issues in their own constituency,” he was quoted as saying by The Star. -Mkini