Patriot, which comprises army and police veterans, was referring to the Segamat army base which is scheduled to be completed in April 2018 but reportedly already has 1,051 military personnel registered to vote in that area.
Patriot president Brigadier-General (Rtd) Mohd Arshad Raji said it is possible that a similar game plan would be used for the new army bases in Bera, Paloh and Hutan Melintang.
“We are unsure if it is true that there are new camps being built there and if a shift of army voters has already been done.
“This issue should be put forth to the defence minister and the deputy defence minister,” Arshad said during a press conference here today.
He added that the Election Commision (EC) should also probe further into this issue.
Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong had sounded the alarm on the issue, claiming that the base was being built to enlist the personnel to strengthen Barisan Nasional’s (BN) chances in the Segamat parliamentary and Jementah state constituencies.
Liew said the 2017 3rd quarter supplementary electoral roll, which is currently being displayed, showed that 1,079 military personnel and their spouses were registered to vote in the two constituencies.
Of the total, he said, 1,051 voters were registered at the uncompleted Kem Segamat and 28 others at Regiment 501 Territorial Army Kem Segamat.
Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had previously said it made no sense for more than 1,000 servicemen and their spouses to be registered as voters at a military base still under construction in Johor.
“Nobody in his right mind would want to go to a place which is not conducive to live.
“It is also crazy to transfer military personnel without preparing housing there because those sent there will not vote for us. Logically speaking, that makes no sense,” he was reported to have said.
Separately, Arshad had also brought up the alleged plan to sell the Batu Kantomen camp in Jalan Ipoh, saying that the defence ministry has been rather vague when asked about the sale.
He said that the group had sent an open letter to the defence ministry on July 18, urging them to respond to the issue but to no avail.
On another note, Patriot praised the Persatuan Veteran Komando Kuala Lumpur branch for retracting the honorary Komando rank that was awarded to Red Shirts leader Jamal Yunos.
Arshad said that the group had written an open letter on Oct 12 to the veteran commando group urging them to strip Jamal of his rank.
“The reason for the request is because Jamal’s behaviour will only spoil the good name of the elite commando group,” he said.
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