'GE15 army veteran candidates don’t represent any associations, clubs'

 

A group of army veterans have said they will contest in the 15th general election as individuals, not representing any veterans' associations or clubs.

This comes after the Veterans Affairs Department warned that the government could suspend or deregister such associations for partaking in political activities.

Several former soldiers previously submitted an application to form Parti Kemakmuran Negara.

They want to field 50 candidates including retired air force, navy and army officers in the next general election.

In a statement today, the fledgeling party’s pro-tem chairperson retired Brigadier General Abdullah Mohamed stressed that no associations were involved.

“Several individuals are spearheading Parti Kemakmuran Negara and it does not involve any veterans' association registered with the department or with the Registrar of Societies.

“The involvement of these veterans in our struggle is on a personal and voluntary basis. This means it does not involve any veterans' associations or clubs [...]

“This is because the Veterans Act 2012 forbids any veterans' association or club from participating in political activities,” he said.

'Why can’t veterans enter politics?'

The party was formed in response to what they perceived as the government’s failure to resolve long-standing veterans' issues.

In a second statement today, Abdullah criticised Putrajaya for not addressing anomalies in veterans' pensions for the past 10 years.

This, he said, had caused much “untold hardship” in the latter half of former soldiers’ lives.

“Many of my veteran friends died while waiting (for pensions),” he said.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, Parti Kemakmuran Negara pro-tem committee member and retired major Kaha Othman chastised the department for opposing their foray into politics.

“We are army veterans but we have gathered our people together to form this party but not on a veterans ticket. Yes, we are veterans but who says retired soldiers can’t join politics?

“Before this, there have been many veterans who became politicians,” he said, pointing to former PKR Lumut MP Imran Abd Hamid as an example.

“But because we are a group of veterans, we are being intimidated,” he added.

While all the party’s members were veterans, he shared that not all were part of existing veterans' associations.

Kaha believed that their candidates stood a good chance as he said they had support and characterised their present tiff with the department as a positive challenge.

“We enjoy the challenge. This is how they will know whether or not we are true fighters,” he said. - Mkini