AFTER alleging military personnel in Bera were paid to cast their votes early, Pakatan Harapan chairman Anwar Ibrahim is now claiming that theft of money allocated to the military has left soldiers with insufficient ammunition to conduct live fire training. 

There is “no money to buy them”, he said in his brief stopover in Kuching on his campaign trail in Sarawak and Sabah. 

He added that “the money has been stolen by the (ruling) political leaders”. 

Anwar said not only were the soldiers short of ammunition for training, but they also had to buy their own uniforms. 

He said he was informed by presently serving generals, not retired ones. 

Anwar made the allegation after he was asked if he really had proof that military personnel in Bera, the constituency of caretaker prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, were asked to vote early with an inducement of RM300. 

“I have the proof,” he iterated. 

He said he would furnish the evidence to the Election Commission as requested by them. 

“The giving of the RM300 should be investigated.” 

The caretaker prime minister reacted by saying that Anwar’s claim had tarnished the image of the security forces and insulted military personnel. 

Ismail then called on Anwar to retract the accusation and apologise to the military personnel who were accused of being paid to vote. – November 12, 2022.