Armed forces personnel banned from political activities in PD
Armed forces chief Zulkifli Zainal Abidin says the ban will not just be for the Port Dickson by-election but will be imposed on all elections in the future.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian armed forces (ATM) personnel are prohibited from participating in political activities during the Port Dickson parliamentary by-election, its chief Zulkifli Zainal Abidin said.
In fact, he said the ATM personnel must also adhere to the principle of being apolitical, which means that they should not take sides or favour any political party.
“Political campaigns are also not allowed in military camps as well as at all ATM premises,” he said in a statement today.
Zulkifli said the ban was not just for the Port Dickson by-election, but would apply to all elections in the future.
The Port Dickson by-election is seeing a seven-cornered fight involving Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Anwar Ibrahim, PAS’ candidate Lt Col (Rtd) Mohd Nazari Mokhtar and five independent candidates – former Negeri Sembilan menteri besar Mohd Isa Abdul Samad, Anwar’s former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, former private university lecturer Lau Seck Yan, social media personality Stevie Chan Keng Leong and management consultant Kan Chee Yuen.
The parliamentary seat was vacated by Danyal Balagopal Abdullah, 68, on Sept 12, to pave the way for Anwar to contest in his attempt to return to Parliament.
In the 14th general election on May 9, Danyal won the seat with a majority of 17,710 votes defeating BN’s V S Mogan and Mahfuz Roslan from PAS.
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The Election Commission had set Oct 13 as polling day and early voting is this Tuesday.