THREATS and force have no place in democratic elections, PKR president Anwar Ibrahim said today after news that a party senator had threatened and warned Orang Asli voters in Cameron Highlands to vote for Pakatan Harapan’s candidate or lose their posts and salaries.

“There is no coercion in a democracy. Bob has to clarify his statement immediately,” Anwar tweeted today.

He was referring to a news report by Malaysiakini, which he posted with his tweet, of PKR senator Bob Manolan allegedly threatening Orang Asli village chiefs (Tok Batin) during a dialogue with them this morning in Jelai.

Manolan was reportedly warning to village chiefs to support PH in the January 26 by-election or lose their jobs and salaries.

He purportedly said Tok Batin should be loyal to the federal government since their salaries are paid by Putrajaya.

“Batin are paid by the federal government, therefore, batin must support Harapan. If they don’t support, ‘kita buang’ (we discard them),” he was quoted as saying.

However, Manolan has since issued a statement to clarify his remarks.

He said he had told village chiefs that they should not hold their positions while also serving Umno’s political agenda simultaneously.

“If a Tok Batin carries out political activities for Umno and at the same time is receiving funds from the federal government, it is a conflict of interest.

“In my entire statement (this morning), I never warned or threatened or used the words ‘no vote, no pay’,” he said in a statement this afternoon.

Manolan said his remarks were in answer to a question about who paid the allowances of village chiefs.

“My reply was, it is the federal government who pays their salary, so therefore, Tok Batin who still love their posts as Umno branch chiefs should resign as village chiefs.”

Corruption is shaping up to be a key theme in the by-election that was called after a special elections court nullified the results for the federal seat in GE14.

It was won by Barisan Nasional’s C. Sivarraajh but the court voided the results after finding evidence that he had bribed Orang Asli voters in exchange for support in the run up to the polls last year

Nomination for the by-election is tomorrow. PH has announced its candidate as M. Manogaran, who ran for the seat in GE14 but lost to BN, while BN has announced its candidate as Ramli Mohd Noor, a retired high-ranking police officer from the Orang Asli Semai tribe. – January 11, 2019.