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Hishammuddin must pledge not to shift any army voters before GE14
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LETTER | I call on Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to commit to the nation that there will not be any shifts of military personnel to new voting destinations before the 14th general election.

On Dec 20, Hishammuddin who is also Umno vice-president accused me of creating a perception that a new yet-to-complete Segamat military camp would help Barisan Nasional when it came to votes in the coming GE14.

“As the general election approaches, they (the opposition) raise all kinds of issues. If it is true that the camp will help the BN, as the defence minister I might as well have built the camp in my constituency of Sembrong,” he was quoted as saying.

On Dec 21, I told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur that there is indeed a camp being built in Paloh, Sembrong, as announced by the Armed Forces Chief General Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Nor on Sept 25.

I said: “This proves that Barisan Nasional is now prepared to use dirty tactics to fight the next election, including redelineation and building new army camps for the strategic purpose of the election. There are a few other camps being built in Pagoh, Bera (Pahang) and Hutan Melintang (Bagan Datuk, Perak)”.

I then challenged Hishammuddin to deny that there is a camp being built in Paloh.

On Dec 22, Sembrong Umno Youth division chief who is also Hishammuddin’s nephew and political secretary Onn Hafiz Ghazi (photo) said that the establishment of military bases in the constituency was not politically motivated and the new base would not be completed before the general election, adding that critics were trying to undermine his boss.

“Had the establishment of the new Sembrong base been political, surely Hishammuddin would have made sure (the base) was completed before the general election," according to Onn. He also admitted on Hishammuddin’s behalf that there is indeed a new camp being constructed in Paloh.

I now ask Hishammuddin to pledge to the nation that there would not be any shifts in military personnel into these new camps as voters before GE14.

The new camps of Hutan Melintang, Bera and Segamat, which are all still under construction but voters already been transferred in the third quarter of 2017, have indicated clearly that BN intended to win these marginal seats by default.

I also ask Hishammuddin to rescind the shifts of 1,079 military personnel to Segamat, 1,234 to Bera, and 1,411 to Hutan Melintang.

The following statistics show that these seats (Hutan Melintang, Bera, Segamat and Paloh) are highly marginal seats:

1. Hutan Melintang
Incumbent: Kesavan Subramani (PKR)
Votes: 10,155; 49.6 percent
Opponents: 
a) Supramaniam (MIC)
Votes: 8,915; 43.5 percent
b) Mat Sidi Hashim (Ind)
Votes: 413; 2 percent
c) Azahari Abdullah (Berjasa)
Votes: 353; 1.7 percent
Majority: 1,240

2. Bera
Incumbent: Ismail Sabri Yaakob (Umno)
Votes: 21,669; 50.6 percent
Opponents:
a) Zakaria Abdul Hamid (PKR))
Votes: 19,526; 45.6 percent
b) Mohd Alang (Ind)
Votes: 670; 1.6 percent
Majority: 2,143

3. Segamat
Incumbent: S Subramaniam (MIC)
Votes: 20,037; 50.3 percent
Opponent: Chua Jui Meng (PKR)
Votes: 18,820; 47.3 percent
Majority: 1,217

4. Paloh
Incumbent: Teoh Yap Kun (MCA)
Votes: 7,531; 49 percent
Opponent: Shanker Rengganathan (DAP)
Votes: 7,428; 48.4 percent
Majority: 103


LIEW CHIN TONG is the MP for Kluang, DAP Johor chairperson and the party’s national political education director.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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