THREE senior Cabinet ministers who won by a slim majority in the 2013 general election stand a good chance of winning again with the dubious presence of army voters in their constituencies, said Bersih 2.0. 

Bersih 2.0 deputy chairperson Shahrul Aman said that 1,079 army voters have been shifted to the Segamat camp, 1,234 to the Bera camp (Pahang) and 1,411 to the Hutam Melintang camp (Perak), where the Cabinet ministers won their seats in the previous election. 

“This shows that the shifts were made to the parliamentary and state seats, which was won by a slim majority in GE13, especially the three parliament seats held by Cabinet ministers.

“This is politically motivated and done to influence election results by postal or early voting,” he said today at the Bersih 2.0 office in Petaling Jaya. 

Shahrul said that they found out about the army voters after checking the 2017 third quarter electoral roll. 

“Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein will have to answer why the army personnel were registered to vote at the bases despite it still being under construction and whether this happened at other camps,” he said. 

Hishammuddin had earlier dismissed allegations by opposition MPs about the transfer of troops in Segamat, Johor, as a political strategy for Barisan Nasional (BN) in facing GE14.

Shahrul said the Election Commission must explain the issues raised. 

“It seems like the EC is in cahoots with some people to carry out this illegal move.

“We want the EC to immediately cancel the transfer of army voters. The police and Attorney-General’s Chambers must investigate this issue as it is an offence under the Election Offences Act 1954,” he said. 

Bersih 2.0 steering committee member Rama Ramanathan said that in GE13, Health Minister S. Subramaniam won the Segamat seat by a majority of 1,217 votes. 

He had won 20,037 votes while his rival and then-Johor PKR chief Chua Jui Meng garnered 18,820 votes.

“Now, there has been a shift of 1,079 army voters to the Segamat camp. 

“Rural and Regional Development Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob won by a majority of 2,143 votes. Now, there is a shift of 1,234 army voters to the Bera camp,” he said. 

Ismail Sabri won 21,669 votes while his rival PKR’s Zakaria Abdul Hamid garnered 19,526 votes.

Rama said that Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi only won by a slim majority of 2,108. 

Zahid got 17,176 votes while PKR’s Madhi Hasan acquired 15,068 votes. 

“Now, there will be 1,411 army voters at Hutan Melintang in Bangan Datok. 

“This move is being done to ensure and guarantee that the three ministers will win in the next general election,” he said. 

Bersih 2.0 chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah said that the EC had to take full responsibility as they know about the shift of army voters. 

“We also want to know if they have informed voters that their addresses have changed and why they created new localities. They should come forward and explain their actions,” she said. – November 7, 2017.