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“REFERENDUM” AGAINST ELECTION THIS YEAR: OPPOSITION
Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) deputy president Rafizi Ramli has called for a public referendum for the people to voice their objection to the possibility of GE15 being held during the monsoon season.
Rafizi said that the move was to demonstrate the public’s displeasure with UMNO and Ahmad Zahid for the latter’s willingness to hold the general election during the monsoon season.
In a statement on Sunday, Rafizi said that the referendum would be held digitally in a week’s time, to urge the federal and state governments to instead focus on preparing the country for the floods.
“Recent flood tragedies, which have caused loss of property and lives, should serve as a lesson to political parties to not disregard issues of climate change,” he said.
Referring to Ahmad Zahid’s remarks that BN was willing to brave the floods in the event of polls, Mr Rafizi said this demonstrated how the UMNO leader was out of touch with the reality facing the public.
Another opposition politician, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, president of the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA), also criticised Ahmad Zahid’s remarks.
Describing it as “crazy”, Syed Saddiq said holding the election during the monsoon period was killing the people for the sake of power.
“Imagine this year, floods and elections? Ministers focused on the votes, the people will die. This is crazy work,” said the Muar MP in a tweet on Sunday.
Later on Monday, Communications and Multimedia Minister Annuar Musa said Ahmad Zahid’s statement on holding the general election during the flood season has been misunderstood.
The UMNO politician was quoted as saying by the Star that many misinterpreted Ahmad Zahid’s statement as a sign of BN’s insensitivity towards the welfare of the people in pursuit of political goals, which is not true.
“The statement has been misunderstood, as no policy statement on the election has been officially released yet,” Mr Annuar said.
He added that what Ahmad Zahid meant was that in the event of a flood, the UMNO election machinery would still be ready to operate.
Mr Annuar agreed that holding the 15th general election amid floods would be inappropriate, Free Malaysia Today reported.
He said Zahid’s statement was the latter’s personal view on the matter.
“It is rare for a country to hold elections during a natural disaster. If we hold (elections) in an unfavourable atmosphere, the percentage of votes will be low and that will not be a good image for the country,” he was quoted as saying.
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