His remarks followed campaigns on social media urging fence-sitters, believed to be mostly opposition supporters, to boycott the election.
“I want to encourage those on the other side (BN) that really hate the leaders of the current government but are afraid because of kleptocracy and afraid of expressing their hate, to abstain from voting.
“Their supporters do not need to vote. Those that vote should only be our supporters,” the PPBM vice-president said to a roar of laughter during a press conference alongside PPBM chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad and other Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders at Yayasan Kepimpinan Perdana here today.
Various leaders and activists have spoken out against the call to boycott GE14, with Mahathir saying today that it was an Umno ploy to mislead the public in order to gain victory.
Some anti-GE14 campaigners have started online discussions with the hashtags #UndiRosak or #SpoiltVote, and #ProtesPRU or #GEProtest.
This has prompted the likes of civil liberties lawyer Syahredzan Johan and former chief of electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0 Ambiga Sreenevasan, who is also a prominent lawyer, to plead with voters not to boycott the election but to cast their votes “for the sake of those who are voting for a change”.
PH chief secretary Saifuddin Abdullah said the numbers in GE12 and GE13 showed that the result would favour the opposition if more people cast their votes.
“So this (call for boycott) is what BN is trying to do to discourage people from voting. Hardcore voters will still come out.
“GE12 and GE13 recorded the highest number of voters in our history, and the years that recorded low turnout were the years that BN did much better.
“Elections are just that, no matter where, there are parties that like low turnouts and some that like high turnouts,” he said.
PPBM Youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said PH Youth had agreed to organise dialogue sessions with the youth and leaders of the boycott campaigns.
“Even if these groups of voters are small, every vote counts if we hope to take over Putrajaya.
“There are some honest youths who believe in this boycott and I intend to talk to them. Their idealism is in a good place but I plead with them to compare BN and PH.
“Compare the two as a whole and not just boycott the election over one person.
“Do not forget what Anwar Ibrahim, Nurul Izzah, Liew Chin Tong, Mat Sabu and Lim Kit Siang have fought for. You want to forget all of that to retain the current government?”