S A B A H O N L I N E

17/09/2009 by drrafick1. I am sure everyone who is concern about fair election is doing some kind of research related to Army postal votes since PR raised their concerns with regards to the upcoming by-election in Bagan Pinang. PR are making some noises because of their concern on the impact of the soldiers votes which based on the March 8th 2009 election and being a former serviceman, their concern is not without merit. Allow me to share my experience of going through 3 elections while I was serving in the Army.

2. Soldier’s votes are very important to the ruling government as we all know that their numbers are significant when they are located in high concentration areas. I am not sure how many remembered that Najib won narrowly in Pekan during the General Election that took place after Anwar was sacked from UMNO. In that year, Najib by countable number of postal votes that came from the Army and Air Force base in Batu 9 and Batu 10 Kuantan.

3. During the same GE, Dato Anuar Musa (now Tan Sri) then lost the Ketereh seat because the airman at the Gong Kedak, which is located at the border of Kelantan and Terengganu, chose to abstain from voting. The camp is unique where it is located right at the border of Kelantan and Terengganu. They live in Terengganu and they go to work by crossing the road which brings them into Kelantan. They votes goes into Anuar Musa area in Kelantan. I remember when his wife complains to me that the soldiers were ungrateful for not voting BN.

4. In Bagan Pinang, the impact is significant as the Basic Army Training center is located there. At one time there are easily few thousand recruits and soldiers in the Camp. I am not quite sure up to where the extents of the electoral boundaries are but there are many other Army training centers along the famous PD beach road. Certainly they are concern on the impact. Unfortunately their concern appears to be targeted at different matters.

5. PR is concern that the election will be rigged. They are concern about multiple votes from one person and they are also concern of being accessible to the voters during campaigning. This would be their greatest mistake. I would say they should not be concern about the election being rigged or they are not able to campaign but they should be concern with soldiers being ordered to vote BN as well as specific people will be crossing the voting papers on behalf of the recruit and soldiers.

6. During the GE when Anwar was sacked, my voting rights were denied as the voting paper was not in TUDM Subang but was in Mindef. When I went to the voting center, I was told by the adjutant that my name is not in the list under Subang but was located in Mindef. I was given a number to call.

7. I remember calling them vigorously from morning and finally getting through at about 400pm. The Corporal that answered my call confirms that my voting papers were in Mindef and he said it would be difficult for me to go to Mindef and would probably not make it on time. He told me he can help me to cross the papers. I only need to tell him whom to vote. I told him not to do anything but my gut feeling is that someone had vote BN on my behalf.

8. In Bagan Pinang, PR biggest concern should not be about campaigning among the soldiers. They should be concern about how soldiers and recruits would be forewarned and will be ordered to vote certain individuals or certain symbols. Being recruits whose young brain and mind has been thrashed, they will follow orders. They would prefer to follow orders just to get a weekend pass or to avoid being forced to march with 40kg packs on their back.

9. I am not sure how PR wants to ensure that the recruits and soldier can vote without fear or favor. They will go and cast their papers under MAFREL and agents nose but they will never be able to ensure that the soldiers are casting their votes on their own free will. If they expect any of the soldiers or recruits to change their mind based on campaign promises, I can say for sure that they are expecting a big surprise. The only way they can win is they know exactly how many soldiers are there in the camp and they need to find matching numbers among the civilians population to neutralize this numbers and then work triple hard to get the rest of the voters to vote for them. Other than that they need some serious divine intervention.